Fangirls Never Win
by Metallic Snow
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia is club president of the Prince Natsu fan club. Despite the teasing she gets from her classmates, she still pursues her love for the school's idol. However, one day she learns that her entire life was a lie. Natsu Dragneel is the school's idol, being the captain of the football team. However, hidden inside that beautiful face of his, is actually a monster.
1. Chapter 1: Lucy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

There he is again. At exactly twelve-thirty on Fridays, he would sit at that cherry tree and stare into the sky as he eats his lunch by himself. Those beautiful jet black eyes that stares into the blue sky with spots of clouds that the sun pierces through. That salmon pink hair that he brushes wildly whenever he gets embarrassed. Just flawless.

Ah, yes! I apologize for my rudeness! I should introduce myself! My name is Lucy Heartfilia, president of the **Prince Natsu Fan Club**! I am a junior at Fairy High! Um… My hobbies are watching Natsu from afar and um… well… I don't know, taking pictures of Natsu when he isn't watching? No, I am not a stalker. People call me that all the time but I am not, at least I don't think so.

I stare at him again. He is messing up his salmon pink hair, tangling it. My face starts to flush just by watching him. Ah… Natsu Dragneel! He is just perfect! Did I mention that he is the captain of the football team even though he is only a junior?

And the school uniform looks utterly gorgeous on him! It's a black blazer with a green tie. For pants, it is a nice gray color. On other guys, the uniform looks totally dull and ugly but on Natsu… wonderfully magnifying!

Suddenly, his face turns to see me. I can feel my face flushing even more wildly as I turn around and run away with all my might. He saw me! Oh no, he's probably going to think I am some stalker, which mind you I am not! What do I do?

I run in a club room and close the door abruptly as I sigh in relief. I got away, just in time too. Hopefully, Natsu didn't get a full view of my face. I look around me to see my fellow club members surrounding me.

"President Lucy!" one of them says. Her name is Virgo. She is skinny with light pink hair. For some reason, she has a weird habit of dressing like a maid. Why? Don't ask me, how am I suppose to know?

"Virgo," I say, "how are the club activities?"

"We have successfully made a video of his daily activities," Virgo replies as she grabs a remote control behind her and turns on a nearby television.

I quickly sit on a nearby sofa and cross my legs together to watch the video in a comfortable position when the school bell rings. Great, time for class. Just when I'm about to finally see the video of Natsu. I sigh as I grab my school bag to get to class. I look at my schedule and smile. The next class is Math. Not that I love math or anything. It's just that math class is the only class I have with Natsume Dragneel.

I look at my watch and almost scream. Thirty-seconds to get to class. Great, I am going to be late again. I quickly run through the hallways as teachers behind me yell at me, saying, "No running in the hall!" However, I ignore them. I rather get yelled at later than be late for my _oh so wonderful_ class with Natsu Dragneel.

I finally arrive to class, just about five seconds early to see the teacher, Ms. Cana Alberona, looking straight at me. I gulp loudly.

Ms. Alberona takes her ruler and hits it over and over again on her hand as if she is about to hit me with that thing. "Lucy Heartfilia, care to explain why you are the last person to come to class?" she asks sternly.

Then I hear a burst of laughter behind me followed by more bursts of laughter. I turn around to see Natsu Dragneel, among my classmates, laughing at me also. I mentally hit myself in frustration. How could I allow myself to embarrass myself in front of Natsu Dragneel again?

"I'm sorry Ms. Alberona," I say as I look at the floor. "I won't be the last to come next time…"

Ms. Alberona sighs and points her ruler to my seat. "Go sit down. I'll start class now."

"Yes Ms. Alberona…" I reply as I slowly go to the back row and sit on my seat. I sit next to my friends Erza Scarlet and Juvia Lockser.

"Lucy, you're late again!" Ezra whispers to me as she giggles. Ezra has really beautiful hair. It is scarlet, just like her last name. Her eyes are brown like mine but they are much more magnifying than mine. I wish I looked like her. She is absolutely beautiful.

I groan and plop my head on my desk. "I was five seconds early though…" I grumble as I sneak a peek at Natsu Dragneel. Looking at him releases my anger towards my annoying teacher and makes me smile. Then I groan when I see who is next to him. It is Lisanna Strauss, his childhood friend. She is definitely my biggest enemy.

"Five seconds?" Juvia says in between giggles. "Even Juvia is faster to get to class than that!" Juvia has ocean blue hair. Her eyes are navy blue, giving her a mysterious look. She has an odd habit of speaking in third-person and has a really creepy addiction to my childhood friend, Gray Fullbuster.

"Class!" Ms. Alberona yells to get everyone's attention. "Please look at the board!" As she talks about the math equations, functions, et cetera, I take notes. As much as I would like to stare at Natsu Dragneel, I have to make sure my grades don't fail. I'm a honor student after all.

After math class, I go to language and then History, and then… Well, you get the idea. Just a bunch of classes. After school, I don't have any more class activities so I would usually go to the front gate to meet my best friend, Gray Fullbuster, who is also my childhood friend as I explained before. Usually, on Mondays, I would have Art Club. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would have Prince Natsu Club and finally on Wednesdays, I would have cheerleading practice. Fridays are free.

As I take my schoolbag out of my locker, I hurriedly put my textbooks that I need in it. Then I slam my locker shut and am about to run to the school gates to walk home with Gray when a hand on my shoulder stops me.

"Hey," says the voice behind me.

I gulp and slowly turn around to see jet black eyes staring into my dark brown eyes. Then I gasp, realizing it is Natsu Dragneel I am looking at. "Ah," I say as I avert my eyes away from his. "H-H-H-Hello, N-N-Natsu!" Then I realize that this is actually the first time I have ever been in contact with Natsu Dragneel, even though I am the president of his fan club.

"You're the one who I saw at the cherry tree today right?" he asks. "I always see you around but I never got the chance to talk to you."

Well, duh. Of course he would see me around all the time! I'm constantly watching his gorgeous self everyday. "Um… Yeah," I say sheepishly as I look at the ground and twirl my thumbs. "Funny… I see you everyday yet I don't even talk to you at all…" Ugh, I think to myself as I steal glances at Natsu. I'm acting so ridiculous in front of him. Blushing, playing with my hair. I'm so disgusting.

Natsu makes his big smile and sticks out his right hand to me. "I'm Natsu Dragneel! And you are?"

My heart begins to do this weird dance as my face flushes red and I stick my hand out too to do a handshake. "Um… I'm Lucy… Lucy Heartfilia…"

He takes my hand and shakes it also. I can't help but stare into his eyes. He is just so magnifying.

"Lucy!" I hear a voice cry behind me. I turn around to see my childhood and best friend, Gray Fullbuster, running towards me.

"I was looking for you everywhere!" he exclaims as he makes a worried facial expression at me. "Where were you? We meet at the front gate on Fridays, remember?" Then Gray makes eye contact with Natsu Dragneel. His worried expression turns into a scowl. Something tells me that he doesn't like Natsu so much. "Oh, hey Natsu," he says.

"Hey Gray!" Natsu replies with his signature bright smile.

I look at Gray, then at Natsu. "You know each other?" I ask.

"Yeah," Gray mumbles, a bit irritation in his voice. "Natsu is the captain of the football team, duh. I'm in the team so of course I would know him."

"R-Right!" I say, remembering that Gray is a member of the football team.

"Oh!" Natsu says suddenly. "So this is the Lucy Heartfilia you are always talking about Gray! So she's the person you lik-"

Gray immediately punches Natsu in the face. His face is flushed with a scarlet red color as he says, "Shut up Natsu, or I'll punch you."

"Ow…" Natsu says as he rubs the part where Gray punched him. "You already punched me anyway!"

Gray suddenly takes my hand and pulls me by his side, away from Natsu. "Come on Lucy, we're going," he says as he drags me away.

"Um… Wait! What about Natsu?" I ask as I look back at Natsu who is looking back at me. I immediately blush and look back at Gray.

"Just leave him," he says as he starts to drag me even faster than before.

I look back at Natsu. He is waving at me, saying, "See you tomorrow, Luce!"

Luce? I think. What in the world is that nickname suppose to mean? What an odd nickname. I take my free hand and wave back at him awkwardly with a smile as Gray drags me away from Natsu.

As Gray drags me away from Natsu, I listen to some girls gossiping behind me. I notice that one of them is that Lisanna Strauss, Natsu's childhood friend. I hate to admit it, but she is really beautiful. Despite the white hair she has that makes her look like an old woman, she has the most wonderful baby blue eyes.

"Geez, I wish she would get the idea already," she says with a laugh.

"I know," a person with black hair replies. She has emerald green eyes. I guess she would be extremely beautiful too if she didn't put so much mascara on her eyes. She looks more like a raccoon than a human with that stuff on. Or maybe more like a panda. She also looks extremely familiar. I begin to think and remember that she is in my history class. What was her name again? Minni? Minerva? That's right, like that Roman god, Minerva.

"That stupid blond hair girl, Lucy Heartfilia," Lisanna says. I cringe at my name. "She thinks she all that! It's obvious that Natsu doesn't like her!"

"I know right!" Minerva replies. "It's basically impossible for a dumb fangirl like her to have Natsu!"

Lisanna breaks into laughter. "So true!" she exclaims.

"Someone as beautiful as you definitely deserves Natsu!" Minerva says as she looks at her polished nails. "Not someone like that stupid blond nerd, Lucy-"

Suddenly, two hands cover my ears. I look to my right to see Gray and force a smile at him. I feel so lucky to have Gray as my best friend. He is always worrying about me. He probably doesn't want me listening to those girls gossiping about me. However, despite his hands covering my ears, I can still slightly hear Lisanna talk. She does have an extremely big mouth after all.

"Lucy… fangirl… stupid… Fangirls never win…" and that's all I hear before Gray drags me to the back of the school.

Once we get far enough from those two gossiping girls, Gray drops his hands off of my ears and puts his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "Lucy, you should really quit being the president of the Prince Natsu Fan Club," he says to me.

I look at him with an irritated face. He has told me this countless of times in the past and won't shut up about it. And I've told him countless of times that I wasn't interested in quitting the club. "I told you Gray! I'm not quitting!"

"Look! I know you care about that club a lot!" he says, "But you have to quit! You're getting bullied a lot by the girls thanks to that club!"

"I don't care!" I exclaim as tears begin to fall out of my eyes. "I love that club! I can't quit!" I don't care if I get bullied because of my love for Natsu Dragneel. I don't care. Being in that club means everything to me and I am not going to back down from being the president. "Besides, why do you care so much Gray?" I yell angrily.

"Because I'm in lov-, I mean…" His face turns into a shade of red as he averts his eyes away from my face and sighs. "Look, I'm your best friend! Of course I would care about you…"

"Gray…" I say. I know he is worried about me. I know that very well, but I can't give up. I want to pursue my position as president of the Prince Natsu Fan Club. "I'm sorry," I say.

"It's okay…" Gray says as he takes my right hand. "Come on, let's go home now." Then we walk home together and don't say another word. Gray just doesn't let go of my hand as if he is making sure I'm with him, safe. Once we arrive to my house, he turns around and lets go of my hand.

"Well, see you tomorrow… I guess," he says with a forced smile. I know he is still worried so I make sure to make a joyful smile to cheer him up.

"Okay!" I say, "See you tomorrow!"

Then Gray leaves me and enters the house next to mine. We are neighbors so we usually walk home together when we can. I watch Gray open his house's door and walk inside. I feel bad for not quitting the club for him. I mean, I would do anything for him, after all, he is my best friend, but I just can't give up on Natsu Dragneel. He means everything to me.

_**"******__F_angirls never win…" I remember Lisanna saying, but I shake my head at that thought. I'll show her. I'll show her that I, Lucy Heartfilia, president of the Prince Natsu Club, can win. Just because I'm a fangirl, doesn't mean I'm going to give up.

"I'll show you Lisanna…" I say aloud, "I'll make Natsu fall in love with me!"

**-End of Chapter 1-**

Hello, this is my first Fairy Tail fanfic! Well, I did write another one titled **The Human World**, but that one is based on Gakuen Alice.

Anyway! Thank you for reading! This is a **NALU** fanfic, just in case you didn't notice.

Please review! Thank you!

Also, I do not own the cover image!

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	2. Chapter 2: Lucy

**Lucy Heartfilia**

"Hey! Get up!" I hear a shout next to me. It is probably Gray, but for some reason, the voice doesn't exactly sound right. I groan in frustration and turn to the right of my bed, expecting to see my best friend, Gray, next to me, when I see someone else instead.

"Ah!" I scream. I quickly scoot over to the other side of my bed and look at the strange person in my room. To my surprise, it is Natsu Dragneel. Wait what? Natsu Dragneel? What is he doing in my room? Wait a second, more like, how in the world did he get here?

"Woah, calm down Luce, it's just me, Natsu!" he says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

Ugh, I can feel my face turning redder by the second. Okay me, I definitely can not embarrass myself this time. "O-Oh," I say, mentally slapping myself for stuttering, "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. Anyway, um… not to be rude but… How exactly did you get in my house? I mean, we only met yesterday…"

I look at him and notice he is wearing his football team's uniform. Then my eyes widen as I turn to look at the clock. It is eight o'clock and the game starts at nine! And my cheerleading squad is suppose to perform for them!

"Oh, I was getting Gray," Natsu explains. "Then we somehow got into the topic of you and then he said that you lived right next to his house so…" He makes his cheesy smile at me. "Here I am!"

"Lucy! Is Gray up there?" I hear a voice shout from downstairs. It is my father, Jude Heartfilia.

I gulp. "Um… Natsu, you did use the front door, right?" I ask nervously.

Natsu scratches his head and makes a confused expression. He runs his hands through his salmon pink hair nervously. My heart pounds as I see him to this. Oh my gosh, he is so dazzling.

"Um… I'm not sure…" he says as he looks at the oddly opened window of my room. "Oh yeah!" he exclaims. He points to the window. "Your window was open so I went through it!"

I look at him, speechless. I always knew that this guy was crazy but I didn't know he was this crazy. Well, it's okay, because his craziness is another marvelous aspect of him. I sigh in my head and can't help but smile at him.

"Lucy?" my father yells again from downstairs. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine Dad!" I yell back as I scramble out of bed. Then I face Natsu. "Natsu, if my dad finds out you're in my room, I'm screwed!" I hiss at him. Then I think about it for a while. Natsu is in my room. Natsu, the most popular guy in my school, is in my room. My face flushes as I think this. It's Natsu! The guy of my dreams, in my room!

"Okay, okay," Natsu says with a chuckle. "I'll get out now!" he yells as he jogs towards my window and jumps out of my room.

I hear a thud and quickly run to my window in worry. How could he be so reckless like that? He might have broken a bone by just jumping down there! As I look through my window, I sigh in relief. Whew, Natsu is standing on my front lawn, waving goodbye to me. Not even a scratch on him. "See you at the game!" he shouts as he runs to Gray's house.

I sigh as I watch him run to Gray's house. His salmon pink hair is tangling in the wind as he knocks on Gray's door. Then I realize something as I fantasize about him. I mentally punch myself several times. Dang it, I should have taken some pictures of him in my room! Those would definitely be the best memory keepsakes in the world.

Then I look at what I am wearing. I am still in my nightgown which is patterned with cute red dragons. I groan. Just great, he saw me in my pajamas too. What an embarrassment.

I close my eyes, slowly walk back to my bed and slam my body on it. Now I would definitely never get another chance to have him in my room, ever. I just messed up my biggest chance. Stupid Lucy. I even let him see my embarrassing dragon pajamas.

I look at the clock and then at the direction where Gray's house is. Natsu is still probably in his house so I quickly get dressed into my cheerleader captain uniform and race downstairs to eat breakfast. I see my father reading the newspaper and eating a bowl of cereal.

Once my father sees my face, he puts down his newspaper and smiles softly at me. "Ah, Lucy," he says. "You're finally awake!"

"Yeah!" I say in a hurry as I grab a piece of bread, pull a blue hair tie around the side of my hair, and hurriedly put on my shoes. Then I run over to the picture of my mother, Layla Heartfilia. She is the most beautiful woman I know, well rather, knew. I bend down to look at her picture more clearly. "I'll be home soon Mom," I whisper to the picture.

Then I grab the belt which is hung on the hook of the front door and wrap it around my waist. Oh yeah, I guess I should explain why I'm talking to a picture of my mother. My mother passed away when I was two-years-old. I don't know much about her, but the way my father describes her makes me love her a lot. The only keepsake I have from her is this belt I just put around my waist.

The belt is black with twelve golden keys on the right side with odd symbols on the top of each one. The keys apparently do not fit any keyholes so I don't really know what the point is to have them. However, my father tells me to keep the keys with me at all times. Why? Don't ask me! How am I suppose to know?

"Bye Dad!" I shout as I open the front door and race to my neighbor Gray's house. I breathe in the fresh air as I run and feel my blond hair trailing behind me. It feels good to be outside.

As I approach Gray's front door, I knock on it. "Gray!" I shout. "Open up! It's me!"

I wait for a few seconds and see Gray slowly open the door. He is in his football gear also. "Oh, hey Lucy," he says, "Come in."

I walk in to see Natsu and someone else playing video games on Gray's sofa. They are playing some weird racing game. I look at the boy Natsu is playing with. He looks familiar. Then I realize that this was the guy who is playing the games is the one who is always around Natsu in those secret pictures I always take of him.

The boy turns around to see me. He has blond hair like mine and a scar that goes down from his forehead to his right eye. I notice his eyes are royal blue. Those royal blue eyes look at me in a puzzled way. "Hey, is this the famous Lucy Heartfilia, Gray?" he asks.

Gray shrugs as he looks away from me. "Yeah, she's my childhood friend, Lucy." he replies with a slightly flushed face. Then he turns to me. "Um… This is Sting Eucliffe, Lucy," he says as he points to the blond boy.

Famous? I wonder. I look at the boy named Sting. He has a strong build and has the football uniform. "Hi…" I say shyly. I'm a pretty shy person when it comes to meeting new people.

Sting walks towards me and examines my face closely. It makes me feel a little awkward. I just met this dude after all.

"I guess the rumors really are true," he says as he moves away from me.

"Rumors?" I ask. I don't remember any rumors about myself, unless Lisanna spread them. I gulp. I hope it is not a bad rumor. I can still remember Lisanna trying to spread one about me having a habit of drinking water from the toilet. Ugh, luckily, no one was that stupid to believe her stupid lies, besides Minerva, which was pretty ironic because her name is from the Roman god of wisdom.

"That there's a girl named Lucy Heartfilia who is supposedly really beautiful," Sting replies as he sits back on the sofa with a plop and grabs a game controller to continue playing. He yawns and brushes his hair wildly with his hand to mess it up a bit. "It's a pity you're the president of Natsu's fan club or else a ton of guys would probably go for you."

I can not help but turn red. I had no idea about this rumor. However, I shrug it off. A rumor is a rumor, usually they aren't true. My chocolate brown eyes turn to Natsu. He is still playing that racing video game. Suddenly, he turns around to face me with his cheesy smile.

"Luce is the president of the club cause' I'm just that awesome," Natsu replies as he winks as me. "You're my biggest fan right? So you're gonna cheer the hardest for me right, Luce, at the game today?"

I don't say anything. I just stare into those jet black eyes of his without a word. I am speechless.

"Luce?"

I shake my head several times. What was I doing, staring at him like that? Ugh, I am such an embarrassment. "Ah… Um… Yeah, I… I'll be cheering for you…" I say shyly. I mentally punch myself for stuttering. How could I embarrass myself in front of him, again.

Gray checks his watch. His eyes widen. "Guys, we have to go now! The game starts in twenty minutes!"

All of us quickly get up and run out the door. Natsu shoves us all in his red car and gets into the driving seat when Gray suddenly pushes him out of the seat.

"No," Gray says, "there is absolutely no way I'm going to let you drive Natsu. You always get motion sickness."

Motion sickness? I never knew Natsu had motion sickness, well, until now that is.

Natsu shrugs and lets Gray take the driver's seat and sits next to me on the back seat. On my left is Sting Eucliffe. I don't know why but I feel really awkward sitting between the two of them. Perhaps it is because Sting is a guy I just met a few minutes ago and Natsu is the guy that my whole club yearns for.

Then I feel a lump on my pocket. I realize it's my phone. Then I remember. I have to take some pictures of Natsu. I forgot to take them earlier in my room but this time I'm not going to forget. My fangirl side begins to take control of me. Time to get some awesome pictures of his car and him.

OoO

We finally arrive at the football field at Fairy High. We are having a home game so our team has the advantage. Once Natsu gets out of the car, he opens the door for me and sticks out his hand. "Here Luce," he says. His voice is a bit weak and his face is slightly green. Yup, he definitely has motion sickness.

I flush red and look at him strangely. This is certainly not like him to offer his hand to another. Then again, I don't really know him that well, so I take his hand. Natsu slowly helps me out of the car when I hear a voice shout, "Natsu! Where have you been?"

I look to my right to see Lisanna Strauss, running towards us. Once she sees my face, she makes a huge frown and scowl on her face. "Oh, hello Lucy Heartfilia," she says.

Man, by the look that face, she must really despise me. "Hello Lisanna," I reply cooly. To be honest, I can feel a shiver go down my spine. Lisanna scares me a lot. Whenever she sees me, she always stares daggers into my throat.

All the sudden, I feel an arm go around my shoulders. I look behind me to see Sting Eucliffe. "Sting?" I say.

"Hey you," he says with a stern look on his face. "I don't know who you are but you ought to not terrorize the girl."

Terrorize? I think. Then I notice I'm putting up a really terrified face unconsciously. I quickly change my expression to a neutral face. "I'm fine!" I protest to Sting. I don't want to look scared in front of Lisanna.

"Anyway, why are you here, Lucy Heartfilia?" Lisanna snares at me.

I swore I saw spit fly out of her mouth when she said that. Ew. Disgusting. I try to hide the urge of wanting to break into laughter. "Um… I'm the captain of the cheer squad…" I say, fighting the urge to punch her and say she's must be blind for not seeing my cheerleading uniform.

"Hey Lisanna," Natsu says, "Why are you being so mean to Luce? She didn't do anything wrong."

"What are you saying Natsu?" Lisanna asks in a sweet tone of voice. "I'm acting totally normal!"

Sure, you are being _totally _normal. Normal for you is snaring at girls for getting close to Natsu and making sure you spit on them while you are at it.

Sting finally takes his arm off my shoulders and takes my arm instead. He drags me away from the situation and turns to look at me once we are far enough. "Don't mind Lisanna, she's just really over-protective of Natsu…" he says as he rolls his eyes. I am guessing that he does not like Lisanna so much either, judging from his tone of voice.

"More like she enjoys being a jerk…" I mutter to myself so only I can hear what I'm saying.

"Yeah, I know," Sting replies. I didn't know he could hear me honestly. I shrug and wave goodbye to Sting as I walk over to my cheer squad.

I had just met Sting this morning but he is pretty nice. He is also Natsu's best friend now that I think about it. Once I spot my cheer squad, Juvia runs over to me. She is also in my squad.

"Lucy! You're late!" she cries. "Juvia was getting worried!"

"Sorry," I say. Then I hear a whistle blow. The game has started. I quickly run to position and start cheering, _Fairies_, which is our team name. We are often criticized for it, but our school doesn't care. We still call our students _Faires _anyway.

I can't help but stare at Natsu the whole time. Even though I'm doing flips and spins, I never lose sight of him. He is just that magnifying. How fast he runs and how he throws that football, all of it is just dazzling. Well, to be honest, I don't know a thing about football but I choose to cheer for the football games anyway. Just so I can watch Natsu. It's definitely worth it.

All the sudden, during one of his plays, his jet black eyes suddenly look at me as he is running backwards, about to throw the ball. Then he falls backwards right after making eye contact with me, landing on his back. His helmet rolls to the side. The ball fumbles out of his hands and everyone tries to get the ball. Luckily, our team recovers the ball and gets a little closer to the goal line.

"N-Natsu!" I shout in worry as his teammates crowd around him once the play is over. I want to run over to him but I'm not allowed to leave my area. Dang it.

Natsu slowly gets up by himself. He seems fine but his face is a little red and pink. I begin to worry about him. Hopefully, he is not sick. I can see him rubbing his slightly red face with his hands.

"I'm fine guys," I hear him say. "I just slipped."

"Are you sure you aren't sick?" Sting asks. "You are a bit red."

Natsu shakes his head rapidly. "I-I'm not!" he shouts in a stuttered voice as he runs back to his position. He is getting more and more red as he runs. Then he and I make eye contact again and he falls backwards, again.

Natsu… Is he really okay? Falling backwards isn't exactly normal.

**- End of Chapter Two -**

Hello, sorry for the short and boring chapter. It will get more interesting soon! Anyway, thank you for reading and please continue to read this fanfic!

Please review!

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	3. Chapter 3: Natsu

**Natsu Dragneel**

Hello. My name is Natsu Dragneel. I have salmon pink hair and I play football as a hobby. Right now I am in a game and am preparing myself to throw the football when I look slightly to my right to see Lucy Heartfilia, cheering for me loudly with her cheer squad. I notice her do flips and spins as her golden blond hair bounces also. All the sudden, her dark chocolate brown eyes turn to look at me.

I can feel myself turn red once I meet her eyes. I begin to feel an urge to continue staring into her eyes, but I am in a game so I know I have to resist that urge. I quickly turn back to the game but I lose my balance and fall backwards onto the grass as the ball fumbles out of my hand.

"Natsu!" I hear a voice yell loudly. I am sure it is Lucy's voice.

Once the play is over, my team comes over to me to make sure I am alright. I slowly get up by myself and say I am fine. My eyes trail to Lucy's again. She looks back at me with a worried expression and I fall backwards again. My face is red and I do not know what in the world is wrong with me. Whenever I see her, my body loses its sense of balance. What the heck is wrong with me? I just met her yesterday! Ugh, concentrate Natsu. Concentrate.

Sting comes over to me and lends me a hand. "Natsu, you should really stop playing. I think you may be sick. Come on Captain, we are bringing you for a check-up."

I take Sting's hand and shrug as I slowly get back up. Maybe I am just sick, but I was feeling okay this morning. I leave the game and walk over to the hospital near the field. I walk into a room and a doctor checks up on me. He tells me that I am fine and I am probably just tired, so he gives me a bed to sleep on until the game ends.

I yawn and close my eyes. Soon, I fall into deep sleep. When I open my eyes, I see Lucy sitting next to my hospital bed with her head right next to my shoulder. Her blond hair is covering half of her face as she breathes in and out. She is sleeping. I take my hand and sweep her hair behind her ear so her hair doesn't cover her face.

Lucy's faces starts to twitch as her eyes flutter open. Her chocolate brown orbs stare into my jet black ones. "Natsu?" she says with a tired tone of voice which was kind of cute. "You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"Ah…" I say. "Um… Hey Luce. So… um… Did we win?"

Lucy nods with a smile. "Your teammates already went home. You were sleeping so soundly they didn't want to wake you up." Then she scratches her head. "Oh yeah, um… Gray took your car home for you."

"Wait," I say, "what time is it?"

"Um… three o'clock in the afternoon," she replies as she looks at her watch.

Suddenly, my stomach growls loudly. My face turns red in embarrassment. I have not eaten lunch yet. "Um… ah…" I say as I scratch my head. "I guess I'm a bit hungry."

"Do you want to eat lunch with me then?" Lucy asks, her face a bit flushed. "I haven't eaten lunch either so…"

"Sure," I say. I slowly get out of the bed and leave the hospital room with Lucy. As we walk to a place to eat, I notice something dangling underneath her shirt. The sun glimmers on it and I see some gold things blind my eyes.

After walking two blocks, Lucy points to somewhere and says, "Here, let's eat here!" I look to where she is pointing and see a cafe. It is nice and small with plants being grown around it.

I shrug and say, "Sure." We walk inside the cafe and take a seat inside as Lucy grabs the food menu.

Once Lucy decides on something to eat, she puts down the menu and smiles at me. "Funny, I just met you yesterday and I'm already eating at a cafe with you."

"Yeah," I reply with a chuckle. I am still curious about those golden things hidden underneath her shirt so I decide to ask her about it. "By the way, what are those golden things on your waist?"

Lucy suddenly puts her hands on her right side of her waist and begins to sweat. "Umm… I don't know what you're talking about…"

Well, she is a pretty bad liar. "I saw something underneath your shirt," I say, "It was golden."

"Oh that…" Lucy says uncomfortably. She slowly pulls out twelve golden keys from her waist. All of the keys are oddly shaped and have an odd symbol on the top of each of them. "This is an important keepsake from my mother…"

I suddenly regret asking about the golden keys. I must have reminded her of many unpleasant memories. "Oh, I… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked…" I say.

"It's fine," she says with a smile. "Actually you are the first person who has ever noticed them besides Gray. I can tell you about it."

Gray? I don't know why but I suddenly get a headache from hearing that name. When did she and Gray meet anyway? Now that I think about it, Gray did mention that he is in love with Lucy. Thinking this, I suddenly get frustrated. Ugh, why am I so mad? It's just Gray. "What are those keys?" I ask. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I don't know," she says. "Mom passed away when I was two and Dad won't explain it to me… He says I'll find out eventually…"

"I'm sorry!" I apologize again. "I shouldn't have asked! I didn't know about your mother…"

Lucy smiles at me and shakes her head. "No, it's fine," she says. "I just met you yesterday but I feel like I've known you since I was a baby…"

I suddenly feel hot and notice my face is full of the color of tomato red.

"I'm sorry," she says as she twirls the golden keys around her finger. "Did that sound weird?"

I shake my head quickly. "N-No! I mean, of course not! I mean…" I scratch my head and look at the fork on my table. "I know how it feels to lose a parent… My dad passed away when I was nine so…"

Lucy's eyes widen and her brown orbs shift over to my jet black ones. She opens her mouth to speak but she doesn't say anything, as if she has a lost for words.

Soon a waiter arrives to bring our food. We eat in silence. It is pretty awkward. Usually, this would be the time I would bring up something to talk about but I am at a lost for words also. I don't know what to say to Lucy. She is just like paper, easy to destroy or rip to shreds.

After we are done eating, I walk Lucy home. We still do not say anything to each other. I glance down at her in worry to see that she is looking back up at me. Quickly, I turn away from the eye contact awkwardly and force myself to stare straight ahead. However, my eyes keep on trailing to her, her blond hair that is flowing with the wind, her dangling golden keys she hides under her shirt, and her chocolate brown eyes. I just met this girl yesterday but it feels like I have known her since I was born.

Once we get to Lucy's house, I see Gray, standing at her doorstep. "Lucy!" he yells once he sees us. "Where have you been-" Suddenly, he sees me next to her and scowls. "Natsu, what did you do?"

Lucy quickly stands between us. "Natsu didn't do anything wrong!" she shouts to Gray. "He just treated me to lunch! That's all!"

"Lunch?" Gray asks. Then his navy blue eyes glare at me. He quickly takes Lucy's hand and drags her to her house. "Come on," he says. "Your dad is waiting for us. He says he wants my family to come over for dinner."

"Oh, okay," Lucy replies. Then she turns to me and waves goodbye. "See you on Monday!" she exclaims with her bright smile.

"Um… ah… See ya!" I say as I wave back with a smile.

I walk home by myself and take the train when I see it. Once I get home, I slam myself face first into my bed. Ugh, I am so exhausted today. I turn my head to my left where my bed stand is to see a picture of my dad. "I'm back Dad," I say with smile.

I close my eyes and fall asleep. As I sleep, I dream of what my dad, Igneel Dragneel, told me before he passed away seven years ago.

**Natsu's Memory - Seven years ago…**

"Dad!" I yelled in my nine-year-old high pitched voice. "You can't die! You just can't!"

Dad was in a hospital bed. He was dying of a rare illness with the heart. His heart was not getting enough oxygen. All I could do was hold onto my dad tightly as his heart monitor slowly increased in beeps. I couldn't do anything.

"Natsu, I don't have much time left," Dad told me in a weak voice.

"Dad! No! You can't! I… I haven't learned everything from you yet!" I screamed.

Dad put his hand on my head. "Natsu, you are smart enough now." Then he pointed to my heart. "You will figure out the power within you, Natsu."

"Wait what?" I said. "What are you saying Dad?" I was confused. What in the world was he talking about? Power… within me?

"Even... flames can save... lives," he said. Then his eyes began to water as they slowly began to shut close. "Goodbye… Natsu… Take care of your mother and Wendy for me…" Then the tears in his eyes stopped and slowly dripped onto the pillow of the hospital bed.

"Dad!" I exclaimed.

Then everything was silent, except for the heart monitor which made a long beep sound signaling that my dad was dead.

"Dad… Dad…" I said. "I still don't understand…"

**End of Natsu's Memory**

"Natsu!" a voice shouts. "Wake up and bring me more to drink!"

My eyes slowly open and a look around me. I am still in my football uniform and in my room. I open the window and look at the clock. My eyes widen. I was asleep for nineteen hours! It's morning now.

"Natsu!" I hear the voice shout again. "Where is my drink?"

I recognize the voice to be my mom's, Grandine Dragneel. I quickly change into my black jeans, white scarf, and red shirt and quickly run upstairs, where my mom is drinking. I sigh. Ever since my dad passed away, Mom has been drinking a lot. Oh yeah, my mom is a pretty famous model, so our family is wealthy. We live in a mansion. Wendy Dragneel, my twin sister, is at a boarding school, studying to be a singer. Well, she is already famous anyway so why does she still bother studying about vocals? Her stage name is Wendy Marvell.

"Good morning Mom," I say.

"Natsu, where did you put my drinks?" she asks in her lazy tone, slurring her words. Judging from how she looks, I can tell that she has been drinking overnight. Her sky blue eyes have dark circles around them, so dark, they look more like bruises. Her blue hair is all over her face, messy. Her shirt is also not put on correctly, showing some of her bare skin on her right shoulder. Also, the way she is sitting makes her look like a haggard, which she is.

"It's in the cupboard like usual Mom," I say as I stretch my arms.

"Go get it for me," she says.

"Fine…" I say as I quickly run to the cupboard, get five glasses of her drinks and set it in front of her. As long as I do what she says, she won't hit me or anything. When she is drunk, like she is now, her hits can be very painful.

She opens the glass of beer and puts it to her mouth, drinking it. Dang, if I am just going to be a slave for my drunk mom, then I should have just gone with Wendy to study music at a boarding school. Then I remember what my dad told me to do:

"_**Natsu… Take care of your mother and Wendy for me…"**_

Great, I think. Not that I don't want to help my mom but I don't think taking care of her means bringing alcoholic drinks to her everyday from the cupboard. I can barely remember my mom being normal. She used to be beautiful, probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. But ever since Dad passed away, she turned into a drunkard who was sometimes abusive.

Oh well, I'll be able to see my friends at school tomorrow. Now that I think about it, Gramps, or rather Principal Makarov, said that he would make an announcement for the juniors tomorrow in the morning. I can't wait! Whenever Gramps makes an announcement, it always means something good.

**OoO**

I wake up at seven-twenty... Wait, seven-twenty? I am going to be late for school again! School starts in ten minutes! I quickly grab my uniform out of my closet and pull my clothes together. My green tie is done a bit messy but I could care less. I can't be late, especially for Gramps announcement. Oh yeah, I am not related to Gramps, everyone just calls him that in school.

I quickly run to my kitchen and grab whatever I can find for breakfast, which is the cliche piece of bread. Then I run to the front door and slip on my school shoes. All the sudden, I wish I didn't live in a mansion. It is way too big. In fact, I already spent seven minutes running around the house. Wait... Seven minutes? Shoot! I only have three minutes to get to school!

As I run to the train, I barely make it. I slam myself into a chair and take a deep breath. Whew, made it just in time.

"Oi, Natsu," I hear next to me. The voice sounds oddly familiar. I turn my head to see Gray Fullbuster.

"Gray? What are you doing here?" I ask.

Gray shrugs and points to the person next to him. "She wouldn't wake up so I guess we are going to be late again."

I notice the person next to him is Lucy. Of course, Gray and Lucy are neighbors so it's normal for them to go to school together. Thinking this makes my heart feel weird. It feels like an elephant just stomped on it several times. Perhaps it is because I am so tired. "Morning Luce!" I say.

"Good morning," Lucy says with her signature bright smile.

Gray looks at Lucy's messily tied red tie and sighs. He takes his hands and pulls on the tie for her. "Lucy, put on your tie properly for once," he says as he rolls his eyes. "You always mess it up."

I notice that Gray has a red tie also. That's odd. Most people at my school have a green tie. I wonder how they got a red one.

"Sorry Gray!" she replies with a sweat drop on her face. "I was in a rush this morning."

"You wouldn't be in a rush if you just woke up early, idiot!" Gray scolded.

"Um… What's that red tie?" I ask them out of curiosity.

"Oh, this?" Lucy says as she points to her red tie. "It's a sign that we are the top ten students in our grade. My friend Erza has one too. I'll introduce you to her sometime."

"So only ten students have the red tie in our year?" I ask. Wow, that's amazing. That means Lucy and Gray are part of the top ten students in our junior year. I didn't know that stupid idiotic Gray was smart. Surprising.

"Yeah," Gray replies. Then he smirks at Lucy. "I'm not sure how this stupid girl got into the top ten though!"

"Hey!" Lucy exclaims angrily. "Just cause' you are the top student of the whole grade, doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"Oh really?" Gray asks. "I wonder, who was it that asked me how to do that math problem last night?"

"Gray!" Lucy yells in a flushed face.

As I watched the two banter, I suddenly feel a little left out. Well, I guess this is normal. Gray is her childhood friend and I am not. I can't carry a conversation with Lucy like him. I watch the two of them laugh as Gray messes up Lucy's blond hair. Suddenly, I feel a vein popping out of my forehead. I can feel my teeth clench in anger. Why do I feel so agitated?

"We are now at the last stop, Fairy Hill," says the speaker above us. "All passengers, please leave the train."

"Come on Lucy, it's our stop," Gray says as he takes his childhood friend's hand and helps her out of her seat. Then he turns to me. "Come on Natsu," he simply says to me as he turns away.

I quickly walk out of my seat and run to school with Gray and Lucy. My eyes keep trailing where Lucy's and Gray's hands are. They are holding hands, just like a couple. I clench my fist in irritation. Why am I so vexed by them just holding hands? It is only normal for them to do so, I mean, they are childhood friends after all.

Gray finally lets go of Lucy's hand. "I'm going to find a place for us to sit in the announcement hall." Then he leaves, leaving Lucy and I alone.

I notice that Lucy is wearing her golden keys again. It's pretty hard to notice but if you look really closely at her right waist, you can see a really small lump.

Lucy turns to me and smiles. "Well, should we go to the announcement hall too?" she asks. Then her eyes trail to my green tie. I gulp. I hope my tie is on correctly today.

Then she laughs. Great, I think I messed up my green tie this morning. All the sudden, I feel more self-conscious than usual. I wish I spent more time this morning fixing myself. My salmon hair is in a mess and my tie is not on right. What a nightmare… Great, now I am starting to sound like a girl.

Lucy walks up to me and uses her bare hands to comb my messy hair as she giggles. It is kind of cute to be honest. Then she takes my messy tie and pulls it to make it look more neat. "Natsu, you should at least clean yourself up! Gramps wouldn't want to see you all messy to his announcement hall," she says with that cute bright smile of hers.

I scratch my head and notice that my face is flushed. "Um… Yeah, I guess I was in a rush this morning too…" I say as I avert my eyes from hers and look at a nearby tree.

"Hey!" I hear a voice say. It is Gray and he is running toward us. "I got us seats! Come on! We are already late."

I quickly go to the announcement hall with Gray and Lucy and take a seat. There, I can see the principal, already making his announcement.

"So juniors, are you ready for the trip?" Gramps asks us.

What trip? I wonder. Dang, I wish I was here earlier because I don't understand what he is saying, even though we are speaking the same language.

"Make sure you bring your signed forms tomorrow if you are going to go or not!" Gramps exclaims. Then he leaves the stage and the announcement is over.

"Great, thanks a lot Lucy," Gray says as he rolls his eyes. "We missed the announcement."

As the three of us walk to our classrooms, Lucy catches sight of two of her friends. One of them has red hair and the other one has blue hair. "Juvia! Erza!" Lucy exclaims to catch their attention.

"Lucy!" Erza exclaims. Then she laughs. "Let me guess, you missed the announcement because you were late."

"Yeah, this girl is just always late," Gray answers for her. Lucy scowls and crosses her arms but Gray ignores her and asks Erza and Juvia, "What trip is he talking about?"

"J-Juvia k-knows… Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaims. Her face is all flushed. "Gramps said that there would be a trip to the mountains for the juniors next week! An overnight trip for two days!"

Erza nods. "A signed sheet will be passed out to the juniors in our next class." Then she looks at her watch. "My next class is Science so I have to go," she says, "See you later."

A trip? Sounds fun. I have never been on an overnight trip for school before. My next class is History with Gray so I wave goodbye to everyone else. As Gray and I walk to class, Gray says something that surprises me.

"Can you stay away from Lucy?" Gray says as he looks at me with his glare that he always gives me constantly for some reason.

"Why?" I ask. I don't recall doing anything wrong after all.

"Well, it's not like you're in love with Lucy so quit messing around with her heart," Gray says angrily. "You know she loves you so stop being such a player."

"A player?" I say angrily. "Since when was I some playboy who plays with girls' hearts? Just because Luce is the president of my fan club, doesn't mean she actually _loves_ me! We are only friends! Besides, if you're going to be so overprotective of Luce, why don't you just confess to her you stupid coward!"

"Coward? I am not a coward! I have my reasons not to confess! And I'm not being overprotective! Anyone would want to protect their friend from a player like you!" Gray shouts. "And why don't you actually pronounce her name correctly for once! It's Lucy, not Luce!"

Gosh, I never knew Gray was so damn annoying. I resist the urge to punch him because I know that Lucy would not want me to hit him. I feel bad for Lucy to have a jerk as her childhood friend. He is constantly controlling her, telling her what to do and everything.

"Oh _protect_?" I say. "More like you're commanding her to do whatever you want! She isn't a robot you know! Moreover you shouldn't be controlling whatever she is doing! She's human and can do things for herself!" Then I walk away from Gray and walk to class by myself this time. I can't stand this guy anymore. He is just so damn annoying.

**OoO**

A week has passed and now I am at Fairy High at six o'clock in the morning, wearing what I usually wear, a red t-shirt, white scarf, and black jeans. My eyes have dark circles around them and I am exhausted. I absolutely hate waking up early. Soon, I see Lisanna running over to me. Lisanna was my childhood friend since I was born. Her older sister, Mirajane Strauss, is currently a model at the age of eighteen and her older brother, Elfman Strauss, who is the twin of Mirajane, is a boxer.

"Natsu! Let's sit together in the bus!" she exclaims happily.

"Um…" I don't know how to reply. To be honest, I wanted to sit next to Lucy. I just met her about a week ago so I wanted to learn more about her. Well, I also wanted to sit next to Sting who is my best friend. However, despite the reason why I don't want to sit next to Lisanna I say, "Sure."

"Natsu!" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn around to see Lucy running towards us. She is wearing a long gray sweater with black leggings and brown cowboy boots. She is also wearing a red wool hat on her head and a red scarf to finish it off.

I groan when I see who is beside her. Gray Fullbuster. They are literally always together. Whenever I see Lucy, Gray has to be right next to her. Gray used to be a great guy until I found out how _protective _he was being to Lucy. Once I see him, I feel like jabbing him in the gut but I resist that feeling. Gray is an important person to Lucy so I don't hit him, but gosh, I would love to punch that hideous face of his.

"Hey Luce!" I say in a happy tone of voice. Then I look at Gray with a scowl. "Hello Gray…"

I notice Lisanna is also carrying a scowl on her face. She is glaring at Lucy with wrathful eyes I have never seen before. I wonder if they had a fight. That would be a great pity, since both of them are my close friends. It would be great if they could get along.

Lisanna suddenly takes my arm and hooks her arms around it. "Guess what Lucy Heartfilia?" she says. "Natsu said that he was going to sit next to me on the bus."

When Lisanna takes my arm like that, I quickly slip my arm out. I don't like Lisanna touching me like that, especially in front of Lucy. I don't know why but I really don't want Lucy seeing another girl touching me. "Let go of me, Lisanna," I say.

I look at Lucy and her facial expression makes my heart feel as if it has been ripped to shreds. Her eyes are averted away from me and her face is drooped. She doesn't look as lively as she usually is. Whenever Lucy is upset, for some reason, I can't bring myself to smile either.

"Luce-" I start when Gray sticks out his hand to block Lisanna and me from getting close to Lucy.

"That won't be a problem Lisanna," Gray says. "Lucy and I already decided to sit next to each other."

What did he just say? Sit next to Lucy? Gosh, I feel really bad for Lucy. I definitely would not like to sit next to a guy like Gray for six hours. Wait a second, why am I getting so agitated on a simple matter of who Lucy is going to sit next to in the bus?

"The buses are empty," says a speaker next to where we are standing. "Please choose a bus to ride on."

Before I get on a bus with Lisanna, I feel someone pull on my red t-shirt. I turn around to see Lucy. My face suddenly feels hot. "Um.. What is it, Luce?"

"Aren't you cold?" she asks me with a worried face. "You're only wearing a red t-shirt and a white scarf… The mountains are cold you know…"

I smile at her and mess up her blond hair. "I'm fine Luce!" I exclaim. "I'm always warm," I say as I point to my myself. Then I give her my hand so she can feel how warm I actually am. She is reluctant but she eventually takes my hand.

"It's warm," she says as her eyes widen.

Her hand is tiny and soft to touch. It is also very cold, like ice. I take her hand and put it close to my mouth and exhale my warm breath on them. As I exhale my warm breath on her hands, my breath makes a misty-like fog in the air. "Are you warmer now?" I ask her with a smile.

Her face suddenly turns extremely red. She quickly slips her hand out of mine and puts it behind her back. "Um… Thanks…" she says with a bashful tone of voice.

"Lucy! Where are you?" I hear a voice that sounds like Gray. I scowl when I hear his voice. Whenever I talk to Lucy, Gray just has to interfere. Gosh, what a nuisance.

"Um… Sorry…" Lucy says, "I have to go! Gray might get worried about me!"

I mess up her hair again and smile at her. "See you later then," I say as I walk inside my bus. Lisanna waves to me and taps a seat beside her, so I sit next to her and sigh. These days, I have been thinking about Lucy a lot. In my sleep, in class, during games, when I eat, et cetera. It is odd. I do not usually think about people like this. Why am I feeling so… strange?

"Natsu! Natsu!" I hear a voice shout in my ear. It is Lisanna.

"What?" I ask.

Lisanna pouts. "Natsu, I've been trying to get your attention for so long! I called your name at least a hundred times!" Then she puts her hand on my forehead. "You look worried and your face is a bit red… You don't seem sick..."

Worried? Red? I was only thinking about Lucy. I take my cell phone and use my camera to look at my face. Gosh, Lisanna was right. I really am red. I drop my phone and sigh. My face has been turning red quite frequently these days. I wonder what's wrong with me.

I yawn loudly. Man, it is way too early. I am so tired. My eyes slowly droop once the bus starts running and the world turns dark.

Suddenly, something white flashes on my eyes, as if someone was shining a flashlight into my eyes. I groan in frustration and open my eyes, but instead of seeing the people on the bus, I see someone with salmon pink hair, staring at me. He seems so familiar but I can not pick up who it is. My vision is very hazy for some reason.

My vision slowly clears but and I see my dad. Wait a second, this is impossible. I must be hallucinating. My dad is dead. He can't be alive.

Dad walks over to me and hugs me tight. "Natsu," he says.

"Dad? Is that... you?" I ask as my hands shake from shock and slowly hug him back.

My dad hugs me even tighter. "Natsu, from now on, you will be experiencing many hardships..."

"Wait what? Hardships?" I ask. "What in the world are you talking about Dad?"

"Good luck Natsu... I will always be looking after you..."

**OoO**

"Wake up, Natsu!" I hear a voice shout into my ear. "We're here! Wake up!"

I groan and slowly open my eyes to see Lisanna shaking me. "Finally, you're awake!" she exclaims. "You were asleep the whole ride here!"

"I was?" I ask. I had an odd dream. I had a dream that my dad came to me as I slept and just hugged me telling me _good luck_. I wonder what that dream was supposed to mean. Whatever, dreams don't usually mean anything anyway. I must have just been home sick or something like that.

I walk out of the bus to see Sting, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Juvia waiting for me outside. I waved to them. "Hey guys!" I exclaim.

Before any of them can reply to my greeting, the teacher blows his whistle and shouts, "Line up in two equal lines!" At once, everyone lines up in two lines as fast as possible. After all, no one wants to be scolded by the teachers. In front of me is Sting and behind me is Lisanna. Lucy and the others are in the other line next to us.

"Today, we will be doing solo hiking in pairs!" the teacher says. "We the faculty will choose the pairs by this." Then the teacher points to a white box and the line Lucy and the others are lining up in. "Come here," he tells them.

Quickly, in single file, their line walks over to the teacher.

"Okay, I want you to put your hand in here and take a slip," the teacher says. "The slip will have a name from the other line. The person's name you pull out will be your partner."

I gulp. I pray that I will not get Gray as my partner. He is definitely the person I least want to be with. I watch Gray go over and take a slip from the white box. He opens the folded slip and says, "Jellal Fernandes."

Who is Jellal? I wonder. I see a boy with blue hair walking over to Gray. He has an odd maroon red tattoo that runs down his right eye. His eyes are dark brown, almost black and he is wearing a furry black coat and long khakis. "Here," he says in a quiet voice with his hand raised up.

Then I recognize him. Isn't he that popular basketball player at my school? Well, whatever. I play football so I don't really care. Then I look at Lucy's friend, Erza Scarlet. Her face is almost the same color as her hair, scarlet. I notice she is staring at Jellal. Weird.

As I notice this, I hear someone with a feminine voice say, "Um… Natsu Dragneel?"

I quickly turn around to see who called my name. It is Lucy Heartfilia. My heart rate starts going up for an unknown reason. It's not like I have been doing any athletics today so that's odd.

"Natsu Dragneel?" the teacher shouts. "Is he here today?"

"Ah! I… ah… I'm here!" I say in a stuttering voice and raise my hand. I mentally slap myself. Ugh, how embarrassing. What the heck is wrong with me today? I've been stuttering and turning red all day. I quickly run over to Lucy with a flushed face. "Sorry about that…" I say as I mess with my hair with a flustered expression.

Lucy giggles a little. Her laugh sounds like those silver bells that ring on Christmas Eve. It's kind of cute, I guess. "It's okay," she says. "Shall we get going then?"

"Yeah," I say. Then we walk off to a path to our left. It has a lot of trees. As we slowly hike up, I figure we have to talk about something rather than just having this awkward silence.

"Hey," she suddenly says.

"Um… Yeah?" I ask, still looking straight. For some reason, I am a little scared of looking at her. I don't know why. Maybe it's because she is the top student of my grade.

"Um…" She doesn't say anything. It is as if she is also looking for something to talk about.

"You said that you were in the top ten students of junior year right?" I say. "What rank are you?"

"I'm second," Lucy replies with a sigh. "It makes me so mad!"

"Why?" I ask. "You are the second smartest person in our grade!"

"Gray…" Lucy says. I suddenly get irritated from hearing that name, especially since Lucy said his name. "Gray is first place," she says with a frown. "He has always been the best of the best ever since we were little. I never beat him in anything before…"

Never beat? Wait a second, that means that stupid Gray is the smartest guy in the junior year. What the heck? He doesn't look smart and he certainly doesn't _act _smart.

"I wish I was as smart as him," Lucy says.

I force myself to look at her and put my hands on both of her shoulders. "You are smart Luce!" I exclaim as I look into her dazzling chocolate eyes. "You don't have to be smarter than Gray! You can just be yourself. Don't compare yourself with that jerk Gray."

Lucy laughs and smiles at me. "Only you think Gray is a jerk! Gray isn't one once you get to know him!"

Oh I know him Lucy. I know that he is the worst of the jerks in this world. It is more like Lucy doesn't know how evil he is. He is always controlling whatever she is doing. Suddenly, I notice something odd. Whenever Lucy lies or is feeling uncomfortable, she laughs. I wonder why. "Don't lie to me," I say as I flick her forehead.

"Huh? How did you-"

"How did I know you lied about your feelings?" I say. "Whenever you lie, you have a habit of laughing don't you?" Then I mess up her blond hair with my right hand and smile softly at her. "You really do care about being compared to Gray don't you?"

Lucy nods at me as she averts her eyes to the floor. "Yeah, I guess I do…" she says with a frown.

"Don't frown!" I exclaim. "Luce looks the best when she is smiling." I put my hand on her cheek and pull it gently to make her frown look like a half smile. "There, you look better now," I say with my brightest smile I could make.

"Ow! That hurts!" she exclaims as she rubs her cheek. Lucy begins to laugh, not because she is lying, but because she is happy. Then she brightly smiles at me and says, "Thank you Natsu!"

My face suddenly turns into a deep shade of red. I pull my hand away from her cheek and run my hands through my hair. "Well… ah… It's not a big deal!"

Lucy's dark chocolate brown eyes trail over to our right. "Hey!" she says. "There's a nice view there!" She quickly runs in that direction as I follow her.

I watch her run over to the cliff. She turns around the look at me as she put her golden hair behind her ear. As I stare at her, I smile. She is just like a sun, brightly shining everywhere, making the dark clouds go away to make everyone smile.

"Natsu!" she shouts. "Help me take a photo!"

"Sure," I reply. I pull out my phone and tap the camera app. "Strike a pose Luce!" I exclaim.

Lucy laughs. "No way! That's embarrassing!"

"Oh come on, Luce! There's no one here!"

"No!" Lucy protests.

"Aw, come on! Please?" I plead her.

Lucy pouts. "Fine… Only one though!"

She steps backward to prepare herself for a pose, but there is no ground for her foot to step on so she falls backward. "Ah!" she screams. Then I can't see her anymore. She fell down the cliff.

She fell down the cliff.

Lucy fell down the cliff.

Lucy Heartfilia, the one who always made me smile, fell of the cliff and is going to die.

Just because I told her to pose in front of the camera.

"Lucy!" I scream out. My phone drops from my hand but I don't bother picking it up. I just run as fast as my legs can carry me. When I reach the cliff, I don't wait to think about how far down the ground is. I just jump.

As I am falling to the ground, I see Lucy falling below me. Her hand is extended out towards me and her eyes are shut tight in fear. I angle my body vertically so I can fall faster. I can feel my salmon pink hair brushing through the wind as I free fall. The wind is coming so fast that it hurts. It almost feels like blades are piercing through my body.

As I slowly approach Lucy, I realize that I only have one chance to save her. If I miss her hand, both of us are dead. If I save her, at least one of us will survive. I slowly extend my right hand toward Lucy. Finally, I get ahold of her hand and grasp it to my chest. I hug her tightly and spin her one-hundred-eighty degrees so that when we fall to the ground, I hit the ground first.

I can feel Lucy's small body in my arms. Her blond hair is tickling my cheek but I don't care. I just have to protect her. There is no chance for me to live if I land on the ground first but it is okay. As long as Lucy lives.

"_**Even... flames can save... lives..."**_

I don't know why but I remember my dad telling me this as I fall. _Flames_, I think.

But the ground is coming too fast. Before I know it, I am only about forty feet from hitting the ground and I close my eyes, blacking out everything around me.

_**Flames**_, I think before I die. _**How can flames save lives Dad?**_

_**"You will figure out the power within you, Natsu."** _I remember my dad saying that before he died.

What did he mean by that?

I wish I understood all of his confusing words.

Why did he speak in such confusing words anyway?

The ground is coming closer.

No.

**No.**

I don't want to die.

**-End of Chapter 3-**

Hello! Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope all of you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter!

~ _**Metallic Snow **_


	4. Chapter 4: Natsu

**Natsu Dragneel**

_**"You will figure out the power within you, Natsu..."**_

**Flashback: Eight years ago...**

"Daddy! Let's play!" I exclaimed as I pulled my dad's hand. My twin sister, Wendy, was pulling his other hand.

"Come on Daddy!" Wendy exclaimed.

Dad patted both of us on the head and messed up our hair. Both of us laughed because our hair tickled our skin. "Sorry Natsu, Wendy, but we are going to learn today."

Wendy and I were home schooled for a year by our dad when we turned eight. We never knew why. One day he just came to us with a serious expression on his face and told us that we were quitting regular school and he would teach us instead. Why? He never explained. Mom was a busy model so she couldn't homeschool us. At that time, Mom didn't drink as much. She was just an ordinary caring mother who loved us very much.

When Dad home schooled us for that year, nothing he taught us was normal. We studied legends about a dragon tribe and the elements of fire and wind. Only I studied fire, I never studied wind. For Wendy, it was vice versa. She studied wind but never studied fire. Why? I don't know. My dad was a confusing man. However, both of us studied the same myths and legends about dragons of different kinds: wind, fire, iron, light, dark, et cetera.

"Natsu, what does fire burn to turn green?" Dad asked me.

"Easy," I said, "Obviously copper."

"How about red?" he asked.

"Sodium," I answered immediately.

"Blue?"

"Gas."

"What do we usually use in stoves to burn fire?"

"Methane."

"Name an important matter needed to have fire."

"Oxygen."

I never knew why I had to learn such odd things. After all, I am sure that an ordinary eight-year-old never learned things such as methane. However, I never complained about learning such things. For some reason, I had a feeling that this all had a purpose. There had to be a reason why my dad was always so serious about fire. After all, my dad was a serious man.

The legends and myths Wendy and I studied weren't ordinary either. For example, there is this legend that both of us had never forgotten.

Wendy and I were reading about a male dragon who fell in love with a beautiful princess of a kingdom. Then the dragon and the princess secretly had a child which started the dragon tribe. Each member of that tribe was half dragon and half human. Each had a special type of magic that could wield the powers of a dragon. The tribe was nicknamed the "Dragon Slayers" due to their great amount of strength that was rumored to be able to kill even dragons.

"Wendy, why do you think that princess fell in love with such a scary dragon?" I asked my younger sister. "I mean, that dragon was a monster..."

Wendy scratched her head. "I'm not sure. Perhaps she didn't look at the appearance of the dragon. Maybe she fell in love with his heart and personality."

"How do you fall in love with a personality?" I asked in confusion. Everything I learned was so confusing. I mean, it was easy to learn but the reason why I had to learn it was confusing.

Even now I still wonder about that princess who fell in love with the dragon. And I still wonder why my dad was so serious about fire and air.

I guess I'll never know.

And it will remain a mystery to me.

**End of Flashback**

I am about to die from free falling from a cliff to save Lucy. The wind is cutting my skin and my hair is blowing around. My eyes are closed shut in fear. I am going to die.

But then I realize I can not die now.

I must live.

Because I promised Dad that I would take care of my twin sister Wendy and my drunk mom. If I am dead, who is going to make sure Mom doesn't drink too much?

_Power_, I think. Yes, that is what I need. I need power to save Lucy and myself. Suddenly, my chest feels like it just got caught on fire. Pain surges through me everywhere. What is going on?

_**"Natsu, from now on, you will be experiencing many hardships..."**_ I remember Dad saying in my dream.

"Argh!" I scream in pain. It feels like someone is ripping my skin off of my body. It burns. It burns so much. It burns just like _**fire**_.

_Fire_, I think. Dad talked a lot about fire when he was alive. He told me about how fire could kill but if one used it correctly, he or she could save lives.

I need to save Lucy. That is all I care about. I don't care about anything else.

I slightly open my eyes for the last time to see that my whole body is on fire. Red flames spread on my chest. My head feels all fuzzy and my face feels hot. No wonder why I was feeling this odd burning sensation. My mouth begins to move on its own, saying things that I myself can not understand, even though it's in the same language I speak in.

"Fire Dragon's Wings!" my mouth exclaims loudly.

Suddenly, fire erupts from the center of my back. I can feel the fire that was burning my body centering toward that area, making two wings in the shape of a dragon's.

Slowly, I use the wings and float down to the ground carrying Lucy bridal-style. Once my feet touch the floor, my wings disappear into smoke. Lucy looks at me with fear in her eyes. I hope she is not afraid of me. I would be if I were her. I mean, growing fire in the shape of wings on my back? Obviously I would look like a monster.

"Natsu? Did you just make fire out of... nowhere?" she asks. "You looked like an angel..."

"An angel?" I ask in confusion. Then I was relieved. Thank goodness Lucy oes think I am a monster. I would hate it if she avoided me out of fear. However, Lucy feels cold and weak. "Wait, Luce! Are you alright though?" I ask in concern.

Lucy nods but her body is still shaking, probably from shock or fear. Slowly, she closes her eyes and loses her consciousness by fainting due to her shock of seeing my dragon-like wings.

I take Lucy's angelic blond hair and tuck it behind her ear. I need to find some way to get back up that cliff we fell off. When I look back up, I notice that the cliff is going to be impossible to climb, especially with one person unconscious. The cliff is just way too high.

Then my mouth begins to move on its own again. "Fire Dragon's Wings," I say again. Fire begins to erupt from my body once again and form dragon-like wings behind my back. I don't know how I can do this but I ignore that mystery for now. Now, I just have to get myself and Lucy back up that cliff.

I quickly fly up the cliff in great speed and land right on the edge. Safe. Lucy is lying in my arms, sleeping. She looks like an angel with that blond hair of hers that reflects the sunlight.

Wait a second, why am I staring at her? What the heck is wrong with me? My face is all flushed and I am not thinking right. If I have so much time to stare at her, I should be bringing her to the hospital.

I find my cell phone on the ground and quickly pick it up. Then I run as fast as my legs can take me up the mountain, where the closest hospital is according to the sign that shows directions. As I run, Gray and Jellal see me. But I ignore them. Lucy comes first before describing what the heck I am doing.

Gray and Jellal run after me. "Hey Natsu!" Gray yells. "What's wrong?"

I don't answer his question. I just run down that mountain as fast as possible. I can not afford to stop and talk. There was a chance that Lucy might have done more than just fainted.

My legs begin to feel heavy like lead. It is getting even harder to lift my legs up to run and the steep uphill of the mountain isn't helping. It is getting harder to breathe also. My throat feels like there is a match lighting in my throat whenever I breathe. I pant harder and harder but I don't stop running. The sooner I get to the hospital, the better.

As I run, I can still hear Gray's and Jellal's footsteps following me. Once I get to the hospital, I kick the door open and shout, "Please, anyone! Please save Luce!" My voice starts echoing across the huge lobby and every single doctor there is staring at me. It is embarrassing but I don't care at the moment. I just need someone to help her.

Quickly, a female doctor comes to me and takes her out of my arms. She carries Lucy into a room and lays her on a bed. Then she does a check-up on her. I close my eyes tightly. Please let Lucy be okay. Then I glare at Gray. Why the hell did he have to follow me here? I don't mind Jellal for some reason though.

"She just fainted from shock," the doctor says with a smile. "She'll probably wake up by tomorrow." Gray and I sigh in relief as the doctor walks out of the door and says, "Just let her rest for a while."

Then the door shuts close and Lucy, Jellal, Gray, and I are the only ones in the room. "Natsu, you can leave now," Gray suddenly says.

"Leave?" I ask Gray angrily. "Who do you take me for? A jerk? Only a jerk would leave his friend who is in need."

"Um... I think you forgot that I was here..." a voice says behind my back. I turn around to meet eyes with Jellal.

"You're Jellal Fernandes, right?" I ask him. "I believe this is the first time I've ever talked to you."

Jellal nods and bows to me. "My name is Jellal Fernandes. I'm am a member of the basketball team and-"

"Woah! Wait a second!" I exclaim. "You don't have to bow!"

"My apologies," Jellal says as he stands up straight. "I was taught to speak and act formally as a child so it is a habit. Anyway..." Suddenly, his face is bright red. "Um... ah... Do you happen know Erza Scarlet? She has scarlet hair and-"

"Erza? Isn't she Lucy's best friend?" I ask in reply.

Jellal nods.

"Then yeah, I know her," I say. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he replies coolly and turns to the door, but I know he is blushing madly because his ears are a bright scarlet red. "Um, see you guys around then. I'll wait outside." Then he slams the door shut, leaving just Gray, Lucy and I in the room.

"Why don't you go too, Natsu? Like I said, I can take care of Lucy myself," Gray says as he looks at me with that signature glare of his.

"I am worried about Luce too!" I shout loudly at him. "If you want someone to go out of this room so badly, why don't you get out?" Okay, I know that Gray loves Lucy. In the beginning, I wanted to cheer for him but now? Maybe in the past, I would give him some alone time with Lucy, but for some reason, now I just can't leave him and Lucy alone. It feels as if my heart would not allow it. I wonder why...

Gray just rolls his eyes and brings a chair next to Lucy's bed, sits there, and lies his head on her hospital bed. I guess he is getting sick of arguing with me. I am sick of him too. I also bring a chair over and lay my head on Lucy's bed.

I begin to think about the legend Wendy and I learned back when we were eight-years-old.

The princess and dragon fell in love and had a child, which started the dragon tribe known as the "Dragon Slayers". I knew this was a fairytale but for some reason, it just seemed so real. I mean, wings just popped out of my back, anything could happen.

Wait a second, if I remember correctly, the "Dragon Slayers" had a power within them that could wield the powers of a dragon. Power that could even kill dragons.

Wield the powers of a dragon... Why does that strike me so much? When I used that weird wing making thing, I remember my mouth saying, "Fire Dragon's Wings". Wait a second, that could only mean one thing. But _that_ is impossible. Dragons don't exist and the legend is _only_ a legend, not reality... I think.

The wings I created at the cliff looked like a dragon's wings. Okay, wait a second. Let me get this right. I basically summoned this monstrous fire power. Ugh, I am so confused. I hate confusing things. Now you know why I hate math class so much.

To make sure I can actually create fire out of thin air and I wasn't hallucinating, I decide to test my power to see if my theory is correct. I stick out my right hand behind my back so Gray will not see and take a deep breath. I close my eyes shut and begin to imagine fire erupting out of my hand. I gradually open my eyes afterward and gasp.

My hand is on fire and it doesn't burn at all this time.

In fear, I scream and shake my hand to put the fire out. At this point, I don't care if I sound like a girl for screaming. And don't you laugh. I bet you would scream if your hand was on fire.

"Woah, Natsu!" Gray shouts. "What's wrong? Why did you scream? There are patients sleeping here you know! Keep quiet!"

I stare at my hand. It went back to normal once I shook it. That's odd. My body trembles in fear. There is only one reason for this: I can use magic.

So this is why my dad always made me study fire.

It all matches up now, all those legends and information about fire I had to learn about back then with Wendy.

I am a descendant of that tribe.

That dragon tribe Wendy and I always read about.

I am a "Dragon Slayer".

In short,

I am a monster.

**-End of Chapter 4-**

Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter once again. I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors. If you have any advice or constructive criticism on how I can write better, please PM me. I would really appreciate that! Anyway, please review and look forward to the next chapter!

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	5. Chapter 5: Lucy

**Lucy Heartfilia**

As long as I can remember, my dad has been telling me this story about a princess every night ever since I was little. For some reason, I never get sick of this story. It just... I don't know... moves me so much. My dad was a serious man, not the type to tell fairy tales but this story was an exception. Why? I don't know. According to him, my mom was the one who shared this story to him. Perhaps that is why he is so serious about it.

Well, this is how the story went:

Once upon a time, there was a vast kingdom. In the kingdom lived a princess whose name was Layla Eucliffe. My dad told me that my mom was named after her. I don't know why but the name Eucliffe sounds familiar to me... I can't pick up what it is though. Eucliffe... Eucliffe... Ugh, why does it spark something in me? I can't remember...

Anyway, every single member of the royal family could use a type of magic. They could control either the power of the stars or the power of the zodiacs. It was extremely rare for a member to be able to control both powers, but the princess, Layla, was able to do so. The members of the royal family also had great memory. They could remember from the time they were one-year-old at most. Every citizen of the kingdom was happy... until disaster occurred.

One day, the kingdom was being attacked by dragons. Dragons of fire burned the houses and buildings down. Dragons who controlled the waters drowned many of their people. Earth and shadow dragons shook the earth until every last tree fell down. Citizens were stabbed to death by the iron dragons. Oxygen was short in supply thanks to the wind dragons who sucked it out. In short, the kingdom was in utter chaos. Soon, the kingdom was near extinction.

There seemed to be no end to the dragons. After one left the area, another one took its place. The royal family members tried to fend off the dragons with their celestial magic. But there was no avail. Not even their magic could help get the dragons off their lands. The dragons were just too strong.

One day, a male stranger came up to the princess Layla and introduced himself as Weisslogia, a dragon who controlled light disguised as a human man to meet her. He promised Layla that he would help their kingdom be restored. Why he was doing this? Layla didn't know at the time.

When Layla saw this man, she felt a moment of fear. In front of her was the same kind of dragon that killed many of her people. However, she looked into the dragon's eyes and saw honesty in them. She agreed to allow Weisslogia to help her people; however, she had a condition. She told Weisslogia never to kill a dragon. Layla was much too kind to want any dragon dead.

Weisslogia reluctantly agreed to Layla's condition and as he promised, he sweeped off every dragon from the kingdom. Peace was restored and all was happy. Only Layla knew what kind act Weisslogia had done for them. To everyone else, the man who saved their kingdom was still a mystery.

The king however wanted to thank and reward this mysterious man who saved his kingdom, so he asked his daughter, Layla, if she knew him. Then Layla brought Weisslogia to the palace, hoping that her father would understand that Weisslogia wasn't like the other dragons. However, once the people saw this white shining dragon, they all screamed in terror.

The king could not believe that a dragon saved his people. There had to be a mistake. He believed that the dragon was trying to trick his daughter and murder her when he got the chance.

"Execute the dragon!" the king cried. "Send him to the dungeons and execute him tomorrow morning at dawn!"

"No!" Layla screamed. "No! No! Father! You don't understand!" But even with the princess's pleads, there was no avail. The king had already called the execution and was not planning to go back on his word.

The guards came in and grabbed Weisslogia with heavy metal ropes, expecting him to resist. However, Weisslogia did not resist. All he did was sit there and wait for them to tie the ropes and bring him to the dungeon. It was as if he was already expecting this to happen.

Layla couldn't believe what her father just did. She wanted to yell and scream at her father, but she had no time to scold him. She had to find Weisslogia. She quickly went down the stairs to the palace dungeons and ran around yelling between tears, "Weisslogia! Weisslogia! Where are you?" But all she could hear was the echoing of her voice spread throughout the dark.

She quickly ran to her room in tears and called a spirit from the celestial spirit world. She told the spirit to look for Weisslogia for she could not find where he was no matter where she looked.

Once the spirit located the dragon, Layla quickly ran to that area as fast as her legs could take her. It was two in the morning so she did not have much time left. She had to get to Weisslogia before dawn. There just had to be a way to save him.

She spotted Weisslogia, sitting in a large prison cell. His beautifully shining white scales were now stained with blood and mud. She kneeled next to his cell, making dirt stains on her dress but she didn't care. Her hands wrapped around the jail bars that separated the dragon and her. "Why?" she asked the dragon in a weak voice. Her tears began to fall faster. "Why did you save my people? You could have just joined your dragons and took over our kingdom... So... Why?"

Weisslogia looked at Layla with his fierce yet kind eyes and smiled. "Princess..." he said in a weak crackling voice. "It is because I fell in love with your eyes... Your eyes that sought ways to save your people... That is why."

Layla began to cry harder. She grasped onto the bars that separated her from Weisslogia so hard that her hands began to bleed a little. "This time... it is my turn to save you, Weisslogia. I'll explain this to Father! He will understand that you aren't one of the other dragons!" She put her head against the bars as tears dripped down her chin and landed on the floor. "I'll show him that you are different..."

"Layla," Weisslogia said, "There's no chance of the king understanding. I am a dragon. And you are a human. Humans and dragons can never be together."

Layla shook her head. "No!" she shouted loudly. "I'll get you out of here and we can run away together... Away from this palace. No, away from this country! We can escape and live together!"

Then Layla began to glow with golden light as she began to mutter some words.

"No Layla!" Weisslogia shouted. "If you do that and get caught, the guards will have you executed too!"

But Layla ignored him. "Urano Metria!" she cried with all her might. Then stars of many colors flashed down on the area, slamming onto the jail cell bars. The colors spread like fireworks blasting through the night sky. It was the most beautiful thing Weisslogia had ever seen.

Instantly, the bars were split in two and there was a huge opening, big enough for even a dragon. The princess, Layla, rushed inside the prison and hugged the dragon. She didn't care that her dress was getting stained with dirt or blood from him. She was just happy to be able to see her friend again.

And so the dragon and princess ran away from the palace. How did they run away with such tight security? No one knows. They say they both fell in love and had children. And thus their children had the powers of either a white dragon or celestial spirit powers and had an extraordinary memory just like Layla.

And they say their family's offspring still live on today and are still given the royal last name, Eucliffe.

**OoO**

My body is feeling something soft, like a mattress. I open my eyes to see a light blue ceiling and myself, lying on a hospital bed. I wonder where I am. I don't recognize this place after all.

"Woah, Lucy! You're awake!" I hear a voice exclaim nearby.

I look to my right which is the doorway and smile. It is my childhood friend, Gray, beside me. In his hand, he has a grocery bag.

"I was getting lunch since the doctor said that you would be getting up soon so..." Gray says with a flustered voice. He scratches his head and hands the bag to me. "Well, I guess we should eat."

"Sure," I reply. Then I look around my room. There is no one else here besides Gray and myself. I sigh.

Natsu isn't here.

I guess he wasn't that worried about me after all... Actually, I was hoping that he would be here. Well, it is not like we were close friends anyway. He would probably be more worried about whether or not he could eat rather than me... Or maybe even Lisanna, they are childhood friends after all...

Or maybe he is busy or something...

I should really stop thinking about him. It's making my heart ache a little to know that he doesn't really care about me.

"Lucy? Lucy, are you alright?" Gray asks me.

"Huh? Yeah!" I say with a few laughs. "I'm fine!"

"Lucy, you always blank out nowadays!" Gray says. "I called you several times already and you didn't answer..."

Wow really? I didn't even notice. "Oh... um... Sorry Gray... I was thinking about stuff..." Like Natsu Dragneel.

Gray and I eat lunch and talk for a while until a man with ruby eyes and raven hair comes in my room. His bangs covers one of his eyes and he is carrying a nurse's notepad in one hand. He is probably a nurse but I'm pretty sure that nurses wear white, not black like he is. His whole outfit is black actually. He also looks around my age.

"Hello," he says. "So you are awake Miss Heartfilia?" Once he catches eye contact with me, his eyes widen and his mouth almost drops. He looks as if he has seen a ghost. "No..." I hear him mutter to himself. "It can't be her..."

"Um... I am Lucy Heartfilia," I say awkwardly. I am definitely not good with strangers. Well, you probably noticed that already.

"Excuse me," he suddenly says, "but are you by chance related to Sting Eucliffe?"

"Sting?" I ask. "I know Sting. He's my friend, but we aren't related or anything. Why?" Do I look like Sting or something? I mean, we are both blond but I am sure that we aren't related. I mean, his eyes are a nice royal blue and mine are dark brown. There is absolutely no way we are related. But still, I yearn to have those blue eyes Sting has. They are so beautiful.

The man with black hair quickly shakes his head and shrugs. "No, it's nothing," he says quickly. "Anyway, I have to do your checkup now."

After a couple minutes, he leaves the room and announces that I am released from the hospital. I walk out with Gray and see the sun shining on my eyes. Now that I think about it, I never asked for the man's name. Oh well, it's not like I'll see him again anyway.

I see a ton of buses in front of us. "Gray, why are there buses here?" I ask him.

"You didn't know?" he says. "You were in that hospital for the whole school trip."

My eyes widen. I was? Wow. That sucks, I was looking forward to this trip too. Dang it. I get into my homeroom's class bus and sit next to Gray like usual. Well, it's time for school tomorrow. I guess I should get ready when I get back home. Study a little... Read some books... Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Natsu all day... I guess it's because he is hanging out with Lisanna or something... Ah, I'm feeling tired. I should sleep.

**OoO**

Eek! I am going to be late for school again! Gray is going to kill me this time! I quickly put on my white blouse, green skirt, and black blazer. Then I pull my red tie on messily like usual. I quickly comb my hair with my fingers and rush outside to see Gray outside my door glaring at me. I gulp.

"Lucy! We are going to be late again because of you!" he scolds.

"Eep! Sorry Gray!" I say. Gray sighs and takes my hand, pulling me as he runs with me to the train station. When we get there, I am exhausted. My legs feel like lead. Gray and I rush to our train and get in at the last minute. We sit down next to each other and I sigh in relief. Whew, barely made it in time.

When we get to the stop where Natsu usually comes in the train, my heart droops. He isn't here. Usually, he would come in at the exact train we were in for some magical reason. I haven't seen him since the day I fainted. I wonder, _Where is he?_

Gray looks at me and sighs. "Lucy! Why don't you tie your tie for once properly!" he scolds as he pulls my red tie for me like usual. He also combs my loose hairs with his fingers.

Instantly, I hear someone groan loudly behind me in anger or jealousy. I turn around quickly to see no one there. What was that? For some reason, I felt like I knew that groan. But... I just can't remember who that groan belongs to.

"Lucy," I suddenly hear Gray say. "You skipped breakfast again, didn't you?"

"What?" I say. "Gray, how could you tell? My stomach wasn't even grumbling!"

Gray opens his school bag, takes out a slice of bread, and hands it to me. "Idiot," he says, "I'm your childhood friend! Of course I can tell! Anyway, you have to eat something! It's not healthy if you don't eat!" Then he waves the piece of bread in his hand. "I knew this would happen so I came prepared like usual!"

It may be my imagination, but I just heard another groan of anger again behind me muttering, "I hate you Gray... I hate you so much..." I turn around to see no one again. Was that a stalker of Gray's or something? It's definitely not Juvia since the person muttered the word hate so who was it?

"Fairy Hills," I hear the train speaker say. "This is the last stop. All passengers, please depart the train."

Gray takes my hand and we walk to school together as I chew on the bread he gave me. Again I hear that same groan of anger behind me. I quickly turn around to see nothing but a bunch of empty field. Okay, this definitely has to be my imagination.

I hurry to my locker to get ready for homeroom. I turn the combination of my lock, open my locker, and see a note plopped on top of my textbooks. I take it out and open the note to see words written with beautiful handwriting that says, "Meet me behind the school at lunch break alone. Don't tell anyone about this." I don't recognize this handwriting but I decide to check it out later anyway. It may be important.

I look at the clock near my locker. Eek! Its is seven twenty-nine! I'm going to be late for homeroom! I run to my homeroom with handouts and textbooks in my hand. As I run, I pass by the principal's office. I am running fast so I can only see blurs of the people inside that room. I see Gramps of course, but I also see a man with black hair inside. Who is that? Well, I don't have time to think! I have to run! It's seven thirty-one! Class already started!

Once I get to my classroom, I slam the door open and everyone laughs at me again. Ugh, at least Natsu isn't here to see this.

Mr. Alberona glares at me madly. Oh yeah, Mr. Alberona's first name is Gildarts. Yup, he is the father of my math teacher, Miss Cana Alberona. Like father, like son... I mean daughter.

"Lucy Heartfilia," Mr. Alberona says, "Care to explain why you are late again today?"

"Um... ah..." I don't know what to say. I think I ran out of excuses. Dang it.

"Whatever," my teacher says. "Just take your seat quickly. I need to introduce a new transfer student."

Transfer student? That's odd. Transfer students don't usually come at this time of the year. Well, I take my seat which is next to Gray and sigh. Even though I go to school with Gray, somehow he still manages to get to homeroom on time and I don't. How does he do that?

"Please come in," Mr. Alberona says as he motions his hand to the door.

The student walks in and my eyes widen. It is him. That guy who did a checkup on me in the hospital. Those ruby eyes and jet black hair, there's no doubt about it. It's him.

"My name is Rogue Cheney," he says as he bows. "Please take care of me."

"Let's see," Mr. Alberona says as he scans our class. "Where should you sit... Ah!" he suddenly exclaims as he points to the seat behind me. "There's an empty seat behind Lucy!"

Rogue walks to the seat behind me and sits on it. As he walks, he notices me and his eyes widen also. "Oh," he says in recognition. "Hello Miss Heartfilia." I guess he recognizes me too.

**OoO**

It's lunch break and I am carrying the note I got from my locker. As I walk to the back of the school, my heart begins to pound very hard. I wonder who wrote the note. I don't recognize the handwriting or anything, so it is probably not someone I know too well.

I wonder what Natsu doing right now... Usually I would be doing Prince Natsu Club on lunch breaks right now, now that I think about it. I wonder what Virgo and the others are going to think when I am not there. It is odd of me to skip club after all, especially Prince Natsu Club.

I go to the back of the school like the note tells me to and see the familiar white hair and baby blue eyes that are waiting for me. I gulp loudly and feel like screaming but I don't because that would be a show of fear. There is no one else but that girl with white silvery hair, Lisanna Strauss.

Once she sees me, the first thing that comes in contact with me is her fist. She punches my face as her nails scratch my skin and I am knocked down to the ground. I scream in pain as my hands cup the part she punched me at. It is my temple. When I take my hands out from that spot, I see my own blood in my hands. I am bleeding. Ouch, I did not know that she was this strong. I can see a vein popping up on her forehead. This is not good.

"Heartfilia, you are going to pay for what you just did," Lisanna says with a smirk on her face. She cracks her knuckles and glares at me with her beautiful yet vicious baby blue eyes. I can feel myself cower in fear. I want to run but my head is feeling light and dizzy. Ugh, I am losing a lot of blood. This is really bad. I have to get help. No wonder why she told me to go to the back of the school. No one _ever_ goes there.

I must be going crazy because the only thing I can think about right now is how much Lisanna kind of looks like a panda with all that mascara around her eyes. You know what I mean, those stuff pandas you see at the toy store with nice blue eyes? Makes me glad that I don't wear makeup. Okay, maybe I should be trying to find help rather than staring at someone's makeup.

"Wha..." I say in a weak voice. I try to make myself look as strong as possible, but the blood flowing out of my temple is not helping. "What did I do?"

**-End of Chapter Five-**

Hello, sorry for the long wait! Actually, I had this chapter done about a week ago but... once I finished writing, I was about to click save and then my electronic device died. And then everything I wrote was gone so I had to rewrite the chapter. I am really sorry! Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter and please review!

~_**Metallic Snow**_


	6. Chapter 6: Lucy

**Lucy Heartfilia**

"What did I do?" I ask Lisanna in the strongest voice I can manage to squeak out; however, despite my efforts, I still sounded extremely weak and in pain. I am also barely audible. "I don't understand! Why are you beating me like this?"

Lisanna glares at me with her _stop playing dumb _look. "Are you stupid? You stole him away from me you jerk!"

Wait what? Stole _him_? I don't remember being with any guy in the first place. "Stole who?"

She rolls her eyes at me and lifts her leg. She steps on my waist as if I were a footstool. Then she kicks me over and over again as I scream in pain and she yells, "Natsu! He was mine! Until you interfered! He even had to be sent to the hospital because he was so damn worried about you jerk!"

_Worried_? He would never worry about someone like me. He wasn't even by my side in the hospital while I was there. Wait a second, did she just say something about Natsu in the hospital? I stare at her with my widened eyes. "H-Hospital? W-What are you talking about-" I cough out blood as she interrupts me with another kick in my face.

"How dare you trick him!" Lisanna yells.

"Trick?" I say. "I don't know what you're talking about!" I don't even scream in pain anymore. My body is starting to feel numb so her kicks don't even hurt anymore. All I can do is cry because I am weak.

Lisanna stomps on my cheek and scrubs her dirty shoe on it. Tears are flowing from my eyes even faster. "Do you need me to spell it out for you, Heartfilia?" she shouts. "After you _supposingly_ collapsed, Natsu was by your side the whole time! He was right next to you in that hospital room and refused to come out! He kept muttering _It's my fault… It's my fault…_ over and over again!"

What? Next to me all the time? I don't remember that. When I woke up, he wasn't even there. "I think you are misunderstanding!" I yell to Lisanna. "Natsu wasn't next to me when I woke up! It was Gray!"

Lisanna pushes her shoe to my face even harder. "Stop lying to me!" she exclaims. "You moron! He kept holding onto your hand and refused to talk to anyone! He didn't even eat or sleep because he was so damn worried! And because he didn't eat or drink he collapsed also and was sent to another hospital room!"

Wait… so that was the reason why I didn't see him at all ever since I woke up from the hospital room? Because he was in the hospital too? And I didn't know? The information Lisanna just gave me is not processing into my head at all. However, as I think about it, it all makes since.

I didn't see Natsu when I woke up in the hospital.

I didn't see Natsu when I was in the train with Gray.

I didn't see Natsu at school today.

I didn't see him at all.

Because he is in the hospital.

Because of me.

Wait what? Why would Natsu blame himself when I fainted? He rescued me with that angelic magic of his. My head begins to throb again. I am feeling a sharp pain through my head. It hurts. It hurts.

"And it's your damn fault he's in the hospital!" Lisanna yells as she kicks me over and over again at my waist. "See! You can't deny it! It's your fault Heartfilia! In fact, he's still in the hospital now! Jerk! Moron! Idiot-"

Lisanna is interrupted by a blond person in my school uniform who punches her in the face. My vision is hazy so I can not identify who it is. The man carries me bridal style and quickly runs somewhere with me in his arms. I am feeling weak and nauseous so I fall asleep in this mysterious guy's arms.

**OoO **

Ouch. Ouch. Ow… Why does my body hurt so much? One of my eyes open to see a blond person again. "Hey, Lucy!" the person says. He grabs my shoulders and begins to shake me. "Get ahold of yourself! Lucy!"

I recognize that voice… Sting? My vision clears and I am right. It is Natsu's best friend, Sting Eucliffe. "Sting?" I say. "Where… Where are we?"

"The hospital," he replies. "How are you feeling? Are you all right?"

The hospital again? Why am I always being sent to the hospital these days? Wait a second, if I am in the hospital, Natsu _has _to be here, right? "Natsu!" I yell. "Where is he-"

"He wasn't treated in this hospital," Sting replies. "He's fine, so don't worry Lucy." He touches my forehead lightly and helps me lay in my hospital bed again. "Sleep and relax. Natsu just got released from the hospital and is being driven back here."

Whenever I see Sting, he reminds me of something that I can't put my mind around. He feels almost like a brother type of person. "Sting…" I say with a cough.

"Yeah?" he says.

I touch his hand and smile at him. I close my eyes as I say, "I don't know but for some reason, you feel like a brother to me. Kind of weird right? I mean, we only met a couple weeks ago." I notice that Sting isn't replying. "Sting? Sting?" I open my eyes to see Sting's hand covering his eyes. Tears are pouring out of his hand and are dropping onto my blanket.

"Sting, are you alright?" I ask in worry. "What happened? Was it something I said?"

"..." He doesn't reply.

"Sting?"

Suddenly he turns around and runs to the door. "Ah, sorry. I need to get some fresh air." Then he quickly walks away from my room.

"Sting? Sting!" I say, but he has already left. What is wrong with him? Suddenly crying like that… Is he okay? I try to get up and follow him but my waist in covered with bruises. I look at myself with a small mirror I see hanging on the other side of the room. I have a bandage around my forehead and my face has bruises all over it.

But still... Sting's reaction to what I said was odd. Did I accidentally hit a nerve? Perhaps he used to have a sister or a close relative and something happened to her. Dang it, I should have been more sensitive about my comment. I have to apologize to him. But my body won't move. Whenever I move a muscle, a sharp pain seems to pierce through my whole body.

"Lucy!" I hear a voice yell. I spin my head around to see the familiar salmon pink hair and jet black eyes. He is panting from exhaustion and grabs the door for support. I can see sweat on him, probably from running. This person is familiar. My eyes widen.

I gasp.

It's Natsu.

He's here.

Natsu is here.

"N-Natsu…" I say. "W-What are you doing here?"

Natsu runs over to me and pulls me into a big hug. Tears are running through his face. "Luce… I-I was so worried…" he says as his grip around me tightens. I can feel his warm tears being soaked by my school uniform. "When I woke up in that hospital room and didn't see you next to me…"

I notice that Natsu's body is huge compared to mine. And he is warm, like a fireplace. I guess it is because he can use the powers of fire. No wonder why he never got cold.m Slowly, I also wrap my arms around Natsu and can not help but sob. "Me too…" I say as tears run from my eyes to the tip of my chin. "I was worried too when I heard that you collapsed! Why didn't you eat or sleep idiot!"

He loosens the hug and sees the bruises that covers my body. His eyes widen in shock and he holds my hand tightly. "Who did this to you?" he asks me with anger in his voice. His grip around my hand tightens. "Tell me!"

"It was…" I start, but I stop myself. I want to tell him that it was Lisanna but I can not speak. I wonder what he will say if he knows that his own childhood friend beat me up. I can not tell him that. He can not know. He looks as though he suffered enough. He doesn't need to know that Lisanna was the one who caused this.

"I don't know," I say with a giggle. "I guess I forgot."

"Liar…" he says. "You laughed… I told you already. I know your lying habits."

Natsu is pretty smart. Whenever I lie, I always have that habit of making a fake laugh. "Well… um…" I don't know what to say.

Natsu puts his hand over my head and messes up my hair gently, as if he were holding a single flower. "Whatever," he says as he looks at me with his gentle jet black eyes. "The most important thing is that you are alright."

"Um… Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Um… How long are you going to hold my hand for?" I ask as I stare at our hands. My face is bright red and I am blushing madly. My heart feels like it's trying to rip itself out of my chest.

Natsu quickly lets go of my hand and sits on a chair next to my bed. He is trying to act casual but his movements are very tense and quirky. His face is also extremely red. Is he feeling sick? I put my forehead on his to check his temperature. His forehead seems to be around the same temperature as mine. "Hm… You don't seem sick…" I say.

"Wah!" Natsu exclaims. He immediately moves back and trips over the chair he was sitting on. He falls onto the floor with a loud plop. I try to run over to him to see if he is alright but there are bruises on my waist so I can't. Dang it, why did Lisanna have to kick me there so many times?

Wait a second, is Natsu really not sick? Because his face just got redder.

"Natsu!" I exclaim in worry. He rubs his leg which seems to be in pain due to his fall. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Natsu rubs his head and shrugs. "I… uh… am… uh… f-fine…" he replies coolly. He gets up slowly, puts the chair back up, and sits on it again as he scratches his head. I can not tell what in the world he is thinking. He seems so… I don't know… distant. It's like he is living in another world I can not reach. Perhaps it is because he can use magic and I can not.

"Um… Luce?" he says suddenly after a while of silence. He twirls his thumbs and stares deeply into the floor, as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. "Um… do you think I'm disgusting… or even a monster?" He looks at me in the eye. "Am I scary?"

What? I don't understand. It's more like the exact opposite. He isn't scary. He's more like dreamy. He is not a monster. He's more like a prince. And he is certainly not disgusting. He is mesmerizing. Whoops, am I fangirling over him again? I apologize. My fangirling side is _very_ strong.

And here I am, sitting in a hospital room and the guy I like is asking me if I am afraid of him. There should be no reason to be scared. Why would he think about such a thing anyway?

"Of course not," I say. "Why would I? You are…" I look into his jet black eyes. My heart begins to beat wildly and I can feel blood rushing into my face. Oh no. Why does this always happen when I see Natsu? So embarrassing. "Well… um… ah…" My voice is starting to stutter. I quickly avert my eyes away from his face and stare into my blankets. "You were the one who saved me so… there is no reason why I would be afraid of you…"

Suddenly, Natsu grabs my face with both of his hands and brings it close to his, forcing me to stare into his eyes. Oh no, my face is beginning to flush even redder. I try not to stare at his eyes. I'm not sure if my heart can take this. "Look at me!" he says right after I avert my eyes from him. I quickly stare my chocolate brown eyes back into his jet black ones.

"You really don't think I am disgusting? I… I'm a monster! I can make fire out of any part of my body! You…" His eyes look at me with sorrow. "You don't think I am scary?"

"No!" I exclaim strongly. "Natsu, you're human! Not a monster! I would never think of you as a monster! So please…" I put my hand on his cheek and close my eyes. Tears seem to be rushing out of them. Why am I such a crybaby? So embarrassing. My body seems to be moving on its own. I place my forehead on top of his. "Don't think of yourself as a monster."

"Luce…" Natsu says. I can't see anything because my eyes are closed but I can feel his hot breath. It is warm, kind of like a heater. I can feel his arms wrapping around my body, hugging me. Again my body acts on its own and hugs him back tightly.

Okay, you can not imagine how much my heart is pumping.

_Fangirl side is starting to take over._

No no. Please not now. I'm trying to act normal for once.

_But you know that your heart is pumping like crazy. Just go for it and confess to him or something. _

Shut up fangirl.

_Hey! I'm you! Don't tell yourself to shut up!_

Shut. up.

_Come on. Just confess to him already. You know you like him…_

I know okay! I know! But now isn't the time to confess fangirl!

_Aw, come on Lucy Heartfilia! Just do it! It is the perfect time! _

No! No! No! I can not afford to embarrass myself anymore!

_Lucy, I am being serious now. You aren't going to get another chance to confess to him like this in a million years so just do it!_

Yeah… I guess you are right… Wait a second, why am I talking to myself? Anyway, I should confess. My fangirl side is right. I probably won't get another chance to do this so I should let him know about my feelings now. Sorry heart. Please deal with the heavy beating for now.

_Okay Lucy, you can do this. It's really simple, just say those three words._

With my eyes still closed and my heart beating wildly, I say, "Natsu… I…"

**-End of Chapter 6-**

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	7. Chapter 7: Natsu

**Natsu Dragneel**

"No!" she exclaims to me strongly. "Natsu, you're human! Not a monster! So please…" She puts her hand on my cheek as she closes her eyes. She gently places her forehead over mine to calm me down a little. "Don't think of yourself as a monster."

_Don't think of yourself as a monster_. I feel like that one sentence keeps repeating itself in my mind. Lucy… How does she know how to comfort me so well? How does she know those exact words I've been wanting someone, _anyone _to say? "Luce…" my mouth says on its own. I don't know why I said her name. I just wanted to say it. No, I had to say it.

I wrap my arms around her small body and allow my tears to flow. Soon, I feel her arms wrap around mine also. She feels so much colder compared to my body. Well, I guess it is because I am a fire dragon slayer. Fire practically burns in me all the time. Well, she doesn't exactly feel cold either. She feels warm, not hot or cold. Just right.

I'm not sure if she can notice but tears seem to be forcing their way through my eyes. Well, her eyes are closed so I don't think she notices. Well, actually I am staring at the ground, averting my eyes from her so I'm not sure if she is still closing her eyes.

This girl… I only met her a couple weeks ago yet she can move me so much. So much that tears just force their way out of my eyes themselves. Why? I don't understand.

I look up at her face and notice that she is also crying. The tears that are running through her beautiful face are flowing from her eyes to the tip of her chin. Her chocolate brown eyes are being covered by her eyelids and she looks like an angelic princess.

Unconsciously, I inch my face near hers until we are just a few centimeters apart. Slowly, my eyelids begin to close. Wait a second, what are you doing Natsu! Stop it!

My body is feeling hot and my heart is pumping faster and faster. Thank goodness her eyes are still closed because my face is bright red, probably like a tomato. It feels as though my body is controlling itself and I am about to touch her pink lips on mine until she suddenly says, "Natsu… I…"

I immediately snap out of it, come back to my senses, and pull my face away from hers. What the heck was I trying to do? I wasn't trying to _kiss_ her right? What is wrong with me? Oh no, please don't tell me I am turning into a player like Loke Lilica. I don't think I ever introduced Lucy to Loke before. I probably shouldn't. He'd probably be like, _Oh! Pretty girl, please go out with me!_

Did you see my parody of him right there? I think it was perfect. Not that I'd care of Lucy ever decided to go out with Loke or someone else...

"W-What is it Luce?" I ask her.

"Natsu, I… I lov-"

_Kill her_, I suddenly hear someone hiss, interrupting the words Lucy was trying to say to me. The hissing voice sounds like a man speaking with a hoarse throat in an echoing hallway. _Kill the celestial maiden… Kill her, dragon slayer of fire…_ Suddenly, I feel a sharp pierce of pain shot through my head. It feels like someone had just plugged me into an outlet and sparked me with a thousand volts.

"Ah!" I scream in pain.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaims. "What's wrong?"

_Kill her… Kill her… Her existence is unacceptable… _That voice keeps screaming in my mind.

"Shut up!" I shout loudly. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

_I am you. Your fate is to kill her._

"Shut up!" I scream. "Go away!" Whenever this voice hisses, I notice that my head feels like it is being split in two. I mean, literally split in two, as if someone cracked my skull with a hammer and used their bare fingers to split it in two.

"Natsu? What are you talking about?" Lucy says. She holds my shoulders and shakes me as hard as she can. "What's wrong? Natsu, come to your senses!"

_Go on Natsu Dragneel, son of the great dragon slayer, Igneel Dragneel. Kill the celestial maiden_, the voice hisses again.

"Who?" I shout. "What celestial maiden? How do you know my dad?" Ugh, my head hurts so much. I can not think right anymore. All I can hear is that hissing voice that echoes in my mind.

And let me tell you, it is amazingly annoying and frustrating.

Yeah, not what a typical guy thinks about when his head feels like it's being split in two.

The voice began to laugh aimlessly. _I told you Natsu. I am you, and you are me._

"Natsu!" I hear Lucy shout again. "Get ahold of yourself!"

I am guessing that the only person who can hear this annoying hissing voice because Lucy is probably thinking I am some crazy maniac talking to myself. How embarrassing… Ugh, no time to think about this. My whole body is beginning to feel numb and my vision is starting to get hazy. I feel like puking. What is happening to me?

The image of this world keeps blinking red and black. Slowly, Lucy's face seems to get blurry. My head is feeling light and I can feel my body's energy draining from me. I can see Lucy's lips moving, trying to tell me something, but I can not hear her. I only thing I can hear is that voice hissing in my head. Soon, I can not even hear the blood in my veins pump anymore. I think my ears are going deaf.

_Kill the immortal princess, Layla Eucliffe..._

Instantly, my world turns pitch black and I can not see a thing.

**-End of Chapter 7- **

Sorry about the short chapter, but there is a reason for it! Anyway, please review and look forward to the next chapter!

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	8. Chapter 8: Lucy

**Lucy Heartfilia**

"Natsu?" I shout. "What's wrong? Get ahold of yourself!" Suddenly, Natsu falls out of his seat and crashes into the cold floor. Quickly, I jump out of my bed and kneel next to Natsu on the ground. A sharp pain races from my bruised waist to the rest of my body but I could care less about it. Right now, I have to make sure Natsu is okay.

"Natsu? Natsu?" I say over and over. But his eyes are shut. He seems to have lost consciousness. I have to call a nurse, now. Right when I am about to call one, Natsu's eyes suddenly flutter open, revealing his eyes.

His eyes. Oh my god… they are… blank. They look almost like glass. "N-Natsu…" I say. "W-What's wrong?" But he doesn't say anything. He looks like a statue, almost dead. Tears seem to explode out of my eyes. No way… Is Natsu dead? "Natsu! Answer me!"

Suddenly, his mouth moves, hissing something. _Kill the immortal princess..._ he hisses. His head twitches to the right and his eyes widen in a creepy way. His mouth turns into a smirk. _Kill… Layla Eucliffe_, he hisses.

"What?" I whisper. Layla Eucliffe is that princess from the storybook my dad always read to me as a kid. This voice that Natsu is speaking in, it's not him, I know it. Yet, it also sounds like him at the same time. But how is this possible?

Suddenly, I feel a fist punch into my gut. It is Natsu. Instantly, I am blown back and I hit the wall. "Ah!" I scream in pain. I grab my gut in pain and slowly turn to look at Natsu with one eye. Now he is standing. "Na… Natsu… W-What's gotten into you?" I squeak.

Fire erupts out of his fist as he smirks at me. _Die, Layla Eucliffe,_ his hissing voice says. What is this voice? It sounds like an echo of a raspy voice. Is this Natsu? No it can't be. Natsu doesn't use that raspy tone of voice. This is the voice of a demon, not the voice of Natsu.

I am afraid. Who is this? My hands unconsciously touch the twelve keys that my mom left me before her death. Tears keep bursting out of my eyes.

Natsu slowly walks over to me with the fire on fist. The way he walks is eerie. He walks like a puppet, as if someone was controlling him. His blank jet black eyes stare at me once I am at his feet. I watch him lift his fist which is on fire, preparing to punch me.

I cower in fear and cover my body with my arms. "Natsu," I say. "Snap out of it… I know that this isn't you…" But I know that he can not hear me because he isn't even twitching from the words that squeak out of my mouth.

He is about to hit me with his fist but I quickly roll to dodge it. But just the heat is painful. At first I feel numb, and then I feel like my body is on fire. Then he takes his fist again, and hits me, hard. Luckily, this time his hand isn't on fire, but it is still extremely painful.

"Ah!" I scream. I fly back and slam into the window of the hospital room. The window cracks from the impact and then I fly backwards.

I am falling. I am falling so fast, the wind feels like knives slashing me from every direction. I am not sure what story in the hospital I am on, but either way, I am going to die at this height. Again, I can feel my hands grip onto the keys that my mom gave me. "Mom…" I say with tears in my eyes. My hands tighten around the twelve golden keys. "S-Save me…"

"Lucy!" I suddenly hear a voice below me shout. Someone grabs me in the air and carries me bridal-style. I shut my eyes tight in fear. What is happening? Who is this? What happened to Natsu?

"Lucy, open your eyes," I hear a familiar voice say to soothe me. "It's okay now."

My eyes flutter open to see Sting Eucliffe. "Sting…" I say. "H-How did you see me?"

Sting puts me on the floor and stands in front of me with his hand out. "He's coming," he says. "Stand back."

"Who is?" I ask him. I slowly stand up and look ahead, but I don't see anyone. Just a white wall. I grasp onto my twelve keys that my mother gave me in fear. Whenever I am in trouble, I always touch my keys. I guess it is just instinct now.

Suddenly, a pink haired boy in my school's uniform jumps out of the window. It is the same room I was just in. Is that… Natsu Dragneel? What is he doing? He could get hurt! As he closes in to the floor, he seems to move his body in a circular motion to reduce the harsh impact of the floor. When he lands, he rolls and then stands like a puppet, slow and creepy. His eyes suddenly move to me and glares. I gulp.

_Princess Layla Eucliffe, today is finally the day you die_, Natsu says in that hissing tone of voice. He puts his hands in front of his mouth in a cylinder shape. _Fire Dragon's Roar!_ he exclaims as fire bursts from his mouth.

What is this? I've never seen Natsu like this before. As I think this, I am frozen in shock. I can not move and the fire is blowing closer and closer to me.

All the sudden, I see a blur cover me and blast out white light, shouting, "White Dragon's Roar!"

I can not see anything, just a bunch of white steamy smoke. I cough over and over again. The smoke is fulling up my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Where are Natsu and Sting? I can't see anything.

Slowly, the smoke clears up and I see Sting and Natsu fighting. Natsu has flames in both of his hands and Sting has a white light in his hands that seems to blind my eyes.

Wait a second, Sting is… What… I'm so confused. What is that white light in his hands? It is just like the white dragon in the story Dad told me as a child.

_Fire Dragon's Claw!_ Natsu exclaims.

"White Dragon's Claw!" Sting exclaims.

Both of them hit each other and their equally matched. However, I have no idea what in the world is happening. Why is Natsu speaking in such an odd hissing voice and walking like a puppet? How did Sting use such odd powers?

_Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade! _Natsu shouts. Suddenly, streams of fire sprout from Natsu's hands. He does a quick spinning motion to twist the flames as if they were made of water. Then, slowly, he brings his hands together, making a flame explosion towards me.

"Layla!" Sting shouts.

Layla? Who is Layla? But I can't think now. All I can see are the flames blasting towards me.

Immediately, Sting jumps in front of me and summons white light in his two hands. Light begins in generate between the hollow areas of his hand, forming a sphere of blinding light. "Holy Ray!" he shouts.

But he is too late. The fire consumes him as he makes an eerie cry of pain. "Sting!" I scream. "Sting! Sting!"

Once the fire is out, I run to Sting, shaking him. "Sting, are you okay? Sting!" I yell with tears streaming out of my eyes. Why would he save me? We were not even that close friends. We were more like acquaintances.

Sting's eyes flutter open and he coughs. "Prin…. Princess…" he says. "I… I can still protect you..." Slowly, he gets up and aims his hands at Natsu.

"No!" I exclaim I grasp onto his sleeve. "Sting! You're already injured! Stop it!" Tears keep streaming out of my eyes as if my eyes were an endless waterfall. "Please… Please don't hurt Natsu or yourself any longer."

"Princess Layla…" he says.

My eyes widen at that name again. Why does Sting keep calling me that? He should know my name, so why does he keep calling me something else? I ask this question, yet for some reason, I accept this name as if it was the name my parents had given me.

I turn to look at Natsu. I stare into his eyes as he glares at me. This person is not Natsu. It just can't. I have looked at him since freshmen year, everyday, watching him. I know the way he glares with those jet black eyes. I know how he walks, talks, and acts.

This is not him.

I wipe away my tears and stare directly into his eyes which reflect my image. "Wake up Natsu," I say as I make a soft smile to him. "This isn't like you. Where are those soft jet black eyes I have always known?"

Natsu's head quirks to the right. His eyes are still blank. His hand looks as though it's being pulled by a string as he lifts his arms up. _Die, princess of the Eucliffe kingdom_, he hisses as fire lights in his hand in a spiral shape. _Fire Dragon's… _He claps his hands together and the flames immediately join together to form a enormous sphere of fire. …_Brilliant Flame!_ I can even feel the heat from here. He lifts the ball above his head and then throws it at me.

"Layla!" Sting screams.

This time I am prepared. I roll to the side and dodge the attack. However, my movements are too slow and my skirt burns a little. Luckily, I am unscathed. I am about the pat the mini fire out of my skirt when all the sudden, Sting grabs my hand to stop me.

"Don't touch the fire," he simply says. "I'll do it." Then he takes his hand and pats it out for me.

Why did he do that? It's not like I would die from just patting such a small fire out. Anyway, I have to do something. Anything. I look at my right hand and notice that it is grasping my keys. Of course I would do that. It's basically my natural instinct to hold onto the keys whenever I am in trouble. It makes me feel closer to Mom.

This is strange. My body seems to be moving on its own. Slowly, I take out one of the golden keys and hold it out in front of me. The key's top is shaped like a ram, two horns. In the center is an odd pink symbol.

"Gate of the ram, I open thee!" I shout. My mouth seems to be moving on its own. In fact, I have no idea what I am doing. It feels as though my body remembers something that my mind doesn't. A golden magic circle appears under my feet. A bright light seems to blind my eyes. "Aries!" I yell.

Suddenly, a gold light shines around my body and a pink cloud appears in front of me. Immediately, the pink cloud comes together to form a body of a girl about my age.

What the heck did I just do?

"I'm sorry!" the girl says. She has pink hair that curls up at the ends and a white fluffy outfit, like a sheep. On her head are two brown horns, like a ram. She wears white fluffy boots on her feet and long yellow thigh-high socks.

In short, lots of fluffy stuff.

"... Who are you?" I ask her.

Her eyes widen. "Princess, do you not remember me?" she asks. "I'm sorry! I'm your celestial spirit, Aries! I'm sorry!"

"Aries!" Sting shouts. "Listen to me just this once, okay?"

"Weisslogia!" the girl Sting called Aries exclaimed.

Weisslogia? Wait what? His name is Sting, not Weisslogia. Wait a second, that is the same name of that dragon who saved the princess in the story Dad told me. This is confusing. I can't take all this at once. Okay, I just summoned some weird girl named Aries who seems to be extremely apologetic and now Sting's actual name is Weisslogia?

Sting points to Natsu. "Attack that guy over there with your magic!" he exclaims.

Aries nods to Sting. "Alright-"

"Wait!" I scream, interrupting Aries. I quickly run over to Natsu and stand in front of him. "Please… Don't hurt Natsu!" I extend both of my arms to act as a shield. I bow my head in front of Sting and Aries. "This isn't him! I just know it! Maybe this is his voice and his body but this isn't him!" I lift my head and let my eyes flood tears. "Natsu isn't this type of person!"

_Asking for your death, Layla Eucliffe?_ Natsu hisses. I quickly turn around to meet those blank jet black eyes. I can see my reflection in those blank eyes. It is so clear that it is almost frightening.

Suddenly, Natsu's fist begins to engulfs in flames. My eyes widen and I quickly jump away from him, as if it were my instinct. I don't know, but for some reason, whenever I see flames, I am terrified. I never had this fear before. I mean, I've cooked and baked before. But all the sudden, I don't even want to feel the heat of fire anymore. I just wanted to run away from it.

"Princess!" Aries cries. "I'm sorry! My attacks do not harm my opponents!" To demonstrate, she extends her arms in front of her to create a giant pink fluff cloud. Then, she envelopes Natsu in this cloud until his body is unable to be seen.

"Princess! This is your chance!" she yells.

Quickly, I run over to Natsu before the pink cloud disappears and wrap my arms around the cloud. Then I tighten my hug around the cloud. Suddenly, the cloud disappears, leaving Natsu standing there in my tight hug.

"Natsu, it's okay now," I say. "Stop it now. It's going to be alright." I pat his back with my hand. My tears are being soaked up by his blazer. "It's okay now, so stop this. Calm down."

"Lu… Luce?" I hear him say. "Wha… What am I doing here?"

I loosen the hug and look at him in the eye. His eyes are back to normal, jet black. He is looking at me with confusion in his eyes. Does he not remember what happened? At any rate, I am just glad that he is okay.

"Princess," Aries says. "I'm sorry! I'll leave now!" Then she disappears with a flash of gold light and absorbs into the key I was holding earlier.

"Luce, who was that?" Natsu asks.

I quickly let go of Natsu and stare at the ground, embarrassed. What was I doing? Hugging him like that… "I don't know either…" I bring up my key and point to it. "She just came out of this…"

"Princess Layla," Sting says to catch my attention. "Well, rather Lucy."

I quickly turn around to look at him. "What is it?" I ask. "And why are you calling me Layla? My name is Lucy."

Sting looks at me with grief in his eyes. "Do you really not remember?" he asks me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask. "I've lived here all my life and remember every single thing about it."

Sting walks over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Please believe my words, Lucy," he says with a hint of sadness in his voice. His eyes are watery and he looks as if he is about to cry any minute. It makes his eyes look like beautiful blue glass.

Those are definitely not a liar's eyes.

"I will believe you," I say.

Sting takes a big breath and stares into my eyes. "My real name is Weisslogia. I am actually a dragon… Does that really not spark anything in your memory?" he asks me.

Wait what? Weisslogia… Isn't that what Aries called him? And a dragon? This seems totally unbelievable but for some reason, I believe him. "Weisslogia… Isn't that the dragon's name in the story my dad told me?" I say.

"Dad?" Sting says. "Your dad was the king. He died hundreds of years ago. What are you talking about?"

"H-Hundreds of years ago?" I say. "B-But Dad is waiting for me at home right now!"

"Wait," Sting says. He sticks out his hand. "More importantly, tell me about the story your _dad_ told you."

I explain the story to him and he listens carefully. He does not interrupt me until I am done. Natsu doesn't either. He just silently listens also.

"That's not the accurate story," Sting says after I finish. "I, Weisslogia, and Princess Layla never fell in love with each other."

"What?" I say.

"And we did run away. However, we were cursed," he adds.

"Wait, what?" I exclaim. "Wha-What are you saying? _We_?"

"I'm just going to make this short, okay?" he says. "We'll leave the explaining for later."

"O-Okay," I say.

"You... Your real name is actually Layla Eucliffe, princess of the Eucliffe kingdom… and… you and I were cursed with immortality."

**-End of Chapter 8-**

I'm sorry if this is really confusing right now. I promise I'll explain everything in the next few chapters! Thanks for waiting for this chapter and please look forward to the next one!

~ _**Metallic Snow**_


	9. Chapter 9: Lucy

**Lucy Heartfilia**

Wait what did he just say? Immortality? What is this, a fairy tale? There is no such thing. Does he really think I'll believe him? Also, I have full memory of everything. Is he nuts? I raise my eyebrows at him. "Say what?" I ask. Maybe I just heard him wrong.

"You and I are immortal," Sting repeats.

I force out a laugh and pat Sting on the shoulder. "Sting, I don't think-"

"It is Lucy," Sting says. He looks at me with serious eyes. "If you don't believe me, ask Gray."

Now I am confused. "What does Gray have to do with this?" I ask.

Sting sighs. "I keep forgetting that you don't have any memories. Listen, Gray is the descendant of-"

"I think I can explain myself," a familiar voice suddenly interrupts Sting.

Natsu, Sting, and I turn around to see my childhood friend, Gray, walking towards us. When did he get here? "Gray?" I say.

Gray walks up to me and bows, as if I were some princess. Well, according to Sting I am, but I think he has the wrong person.

"Princess," Gray says. "Please forgive me for not telling who you are even though I have been so close to you. I am a descendant of the royal ones from the Ice Country. Do you remember the Ice Country?"

I shake my head. "H-Hey, wait a second! I think you have the wrong person!" I exclaim. "My memories are all in me and my name is Lucy Heartfilia! Although my mom was named Layla, I don't think I am this princess you are talking about!" I look into Gray's dark blue eyes. "You should know this the most Gray! You're my childhood friend, right?"

However, Gray doesn't respond. All he does is look at the ground with guilty eyes.

"R-Right… Gray?" I repeat, but he still isn't replying.

"Lucy… I'm sorry," Gray says. "But the truth is... I... I'm not your childhood friend. Your memories of me are frauds. I… I'm sorry I lied to you, but I no choice. I had to because I was chosen to be your guardian."

Guardian? What is he talking about? Not my childhood friend? Is he being ridiculous? We've grown up together, played together, ate together, smiled together, became best friends... ever since we were born. No. This has to be a lie. Gray would never trick me... right?

"Then what about my dad?" I shout at him. "Dad is out there! He's alive! He's real Gray! He's my only relative who is still alive!"

Suddenly, Gray's eyes widen. "That's it!" he mutters. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"What?" I say. "That my dad is actually my dad?"

"No," Gray replies. He looks at me, eye to eye. "That's impossible. The king is dead." Then he extends his hand to me. "Come on Lucy. We are going to visit your _father_."

I look at Gray's hand and continue to stare at it. Should I take that hand? I don't know why, but I am afraid. What's wrong with me? I've held hands with Gray so many times already! In fact, every day ever since we were born! I don't know why but I am scared of taking that hand now. Perhaps it is because he isn't actually the person I know from childhood...

No Lucy. Gray is your childhood friend. He's probably playing some kind of game with Sting.

I am about to take Gray's hand when suddenly an arm flashes in front of us, interrupting. It is Natsu. "Hey!" he says, glaring at Gray. "I don't really care if you are some ice princess or something, but it's kind of rude to say that someone's dad isn't actually his or her dad."

"What did you say?" Gray asks in a furious tone of voice. "I'm not a princess! At least call me a royal, squinty eyes!"

"What did you call me, droopy eyes?" Natsu yells.

"I called you squinty eyes, Flame Brain!"

"Why you-"

"Stop!" I shout. Both Natsu and Gray suddenly look at me. "Stop it! We'll go to my house okay? And then I'll prove to you that my dad is really my dad! And Gray..." I glance at him to see him looking at me. Then I look back at the floor. I don't want to look at him. "I… I still don't understand how you lied to me… To me, you are still that Gray Fullbuster who I played with since birth..."

I start to walk to the direction of my house and suddenly feel a sharp pain disperse at my waist area. I fall from the shock of the injury and slam into the concrete floor.

"Lucy!" I hear Gray shout.

"Lay- I mean, Lucy!" Sting exclaims. "Are you alright? You're still supposed to be in the hospital, you know that!"

"I… I'm fine," I say. I try to get up again, but fall right back down due to the pain that travels from my waist to the rest of my body. That bruise on my waist is the one I got from Lisanna. Out of all places, why did she have to kick me there? Now I can barely walk. Sometimes I wish Lisanna and I could get along but that is impossible. She despises me. Just seeing my face makes her want to puke.

To my surprise, as I am thinking this, Natsu bends down, back facing me. Then he puts out his two hands backwards. "Get on," he says. "I'll carry you there."

"Natsu!" Gray exclaims. "She isn't in the condition to go anywhere! We can check out her father later! Now we should we worrying more about her injuries-"

"Shut up!" Natsu shouts. His bangs are covering his eyes. "Even... Even I know that! I want to bring her back to the hospital too but... right now, to Luce... proving that her dad is real is more important to her! So shut up!"

"N-Natsu…" I say.

The shadow around Natsu's eyes disappear, revealing his determined and vicious eyes. "I'm going to help the girl I know, Luce! Not this Layla princess of yours!" he shouts.

Tears begin to fall from my eyes to my chin. How does Natsu always figure out the words I want people to say to me. That's right. I can't be this princess Sting and Gray are talking about. I am Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia.

I wrap my arms around Natsu's neck and allow him to lift me off of the floor. My tears keep getting soaked up by his black blazer but he doesn't seem to care. "Thank you… Natsu…" I croak out. I bury my head into his blazer and cry. Why am I crying? I keep asking myself that but I don't know. Perhaps it is because I feel like someone cares about me.

More than I could care about myself.

"Why are you thanking me?" Natsu suddenly asks. "You are my friend, right? This is what friends do for each other."

I can't see or feel anything, just the black blazer I am sinking my tears into. I try to say _thank you_ to Natsu again but I am speechless. Now the only thing I can feel besides Natsu's warm blazer is my heart. It is beating fast. I hope Natsu can not feel it. That would be embarrassing.

"No wait," Natsu suddenly says. "We aren't friends."

Wait what? Suddenly, I feel my heart droop. No way... Does Natsu hate me like Lisanna does? My heart beats in fear. No, I don't want Natsu to despise me. I love him. I love him more than the world itself.

"We are best friends now, right?" Natsu says, interrupting my thoughts.

Best friends? That fast? My face is hidden but I can feel a smile forcing its way on my face. Tears of happiness fill my eyes and overflow into Natsu's blazer again. "Right," I say, but my voice is muffled because I am hiding my flushed face in his blazer.

"Now, let's go see your dad!" he exclaims.

"Right!" I say again in an enthusiastic voice.

**-End of Chapter Nine-**

Sorry about the short chapter again! I hope you all enjoyed it!

_**~ Metallic Snow**_


	10. Chapter 10: Natsu

**Natsu Dragneel**

Well then… So, I have Lucy Heartfilia on my back and my heart is making a raging storm of beats. What the heck is wrong with me? This is Lucy! I have carried Lisanna like this before, what makes carrying Lucy more different?

Oh gosh… Please don't make my heartbeats be felt by Lucy.

Suddenly, as I am carrying her, I notice that she is extremely light. Has she been eating right lately? If you compare her to my childhood friend Lisanna, this is a difference between a pig and a feather. I mean, Lisanna being the pig and Lucy being the feather…

Don't tell Lisanna I said that. She is really scary when she's mad.

I also notice something else. Lucy's body is cold, like ice. However, I can feel my body temperature evening out with hers until we have the same degree of heat. I wonder if all that bullying of the person who beat her up earlier made her this weak.

Dammit. Whoever did this to her, I'll make sure to give that person a beating.

"Natsu…" I hear Lucy say suddenly. "Natsu…" she says again.

Whenever she says my name, I feel like an electrical shock is running through my whole body. "W-What is it, Luce?" I ask.

"I… I'm sorry, for having you carry me… Am I heavy?" she says. I can feel her tears soaking up into my school blazer. I don't know why, but her crying makes my heart feel as though it has been broken into pieces. Painful. Stressful. Sad.

"It's fine," I reply. "You are really light. You should eat more."

Lucy makes a giggle. It sounds like the silver bells in Christmas. Beautiful. "I'll try," she says. I wish I could see the expression on her face. I bet it would be stunning and lovely… Well, problem is, her face is completely covered by my back.

Ugh, what am I thinking… I don't even understand myself. My heart beat is increasing. Oh no, I don't have a kind of heart disease or something right? The fingers on my hands holding her against my back are getting hotter every second that I carry her for.

Maybe I should check with the school doctor tomorrow. I may be sick or something.

"We're here," I hear Gray say.

"So…" Sting says. He takes a deep breath and stares at Lucy's front door. "Let's see if the king is truly still alive…" He takes his hand and places it on the door knob. For some reason, he seems to look nervous. His eyes show fear and anxiety, as if he had a fear of something in the house.

Slowly, he twists the door knob and opens the door. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've went to Lucy's house through the front door. Last time, I went through her bedroom window. It was kind of funny to see her sleeping. I remember poking her cheek several times to get her to wake up and her adorable red dragon pajama dress. You have to admit it, that was pretty funny.

I feel someone poke my back. I turn around to see Lucy staring at me. Her face is too close… "Natsu, can I walk on my own from here?" she asks.

"But your bruise-" I start to say.

"I'm fine," Lucy replies with a smile.

I want to help Lucy. I don't want her to hurt herself. But I also want to allow her to do whatever she wants. I want to be her biggest support. I want to be the person she relies on the most. I want to be her most important person.

Slowly, I bend down and allow her to get off my back. Gradually, she stands up, but she falls down again. "Luce!" I shout. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lucy says. But her facial expression doesn't match her words at all. She is holding her bruised waist as she takes heavy breaths. Sweat is forming at the side of her cheek and a painful expression spreads through her face. Just seeing this makes me feel in pain as well.

I stick out my arm towards her and crouch next to her. "Hold onto my arm," I say. "It might help."

Lucy makes a gentle smile at me. Then she takes her hand and is about to hold my arm when Gray suddenly interferes.

"Hold it, Natsu," Gray says, glaring at me.

"What Gray?" I say. I don't know why, but my eyes are also sending daggers at him. He just irritates me so much. Why is he so protective of Lucy? Especially if it is me? It's not like Lucy is going to die if I touch her. Also, didn't he mention that Lucy was _immortal_?

"Don't touch Lucy," he says with an angered tone of voice. "I already allowed you to carry her. No more, I'm not going to risk it."

"Risk what?" I ask.

Gray rolls his eyes. "Don't you know that-"

"Her weakness is fire," Sting interrupts. "She is immortal like me, but she will die with even a quick touch of fire. In fact, the only thing that could kill Princess Layla-, I mean, Lucy, is fire. And you can use flames Natsu. We never know if you are planning to kill her."

"What are you saying?" I exclaim. "I would never do such a thing!"

"Sting…" Lucy says. "So that's why you wouldn't let me pat down the fire on my skirt earlier… Because you didn't want me to touch the fire…"

"Yes," Sting replies. "I'm sorry I didn't explain earlier, Princess Layla."

I slap Gray's hand away and hold onto Lucy's arm. "I'll hold her," I say. "I'm not going to kill her just because I can use fire whenever I want." I wish people would trust me. Lucy is my best friend. I would never do something like kill her. I can't believe Sting is acting like this also though. I thought Sting and I were best friends too!

As I am thinking this, suddenly, I feel a tender hand gently grab my arm. It is Lucy. She makes a smile at me. "I trust you Natsu," she says. "I trust you with my life… Even if you have magic that could kill me, I trust you because you are you... my best friend."

"Lucy…" My mouth slips out her name unintentionally. "Thank you… for trusting me…" I embrace her tiny body into my arms. "Thank you… Thank you," I keep saying over and over again. I begin to cry for some reason. I don't know why. I just weep. This time, it is my warm tears that are soaking into her school blazer.

I'm just so happy. I'm so happy that at least Lucy believes me. That is all I need now. Just Lucy's trust.

Slowly, Lucy and I loosen the hug. She smiles at me and wipes my tears with her hand. "Let's go see my dad," she says. "You'll hold me, right?"

"Right," I reply with a smile. "I'll protect you, Lucy."

It takes a while, but I manage to get Lucy's arm around mine and help her stand up. Slowly, we make it inside the house, together. Well, with Sting and Gray too.

"D-Dad," Lucy says in a weak voice. "I-I'm home…" Then she coughs. I hold her stomach tightly. She seems to be getting weak.

A blond man in a white suit walks to the front doorway and looks at Lucy. His eyes widen. "Lucy!" he exclaims. "What happened?"

"Dad, I-" Lucy starts.

"You aren't her father," Gray interrupts.

Lucy's father looks at Gray and smiles. "Oh Gray!" he says. "Welcome back! What joke are you telling this time?"

"He isn't telling a joke," Sting says. His eyebrows angle to the center of his face. "You are not Lucy's father, are you? Your presence doesn't feel the same or even similar to Lucy's."

Suddenly, Lucy's father's eyes turn into a stern glare. "What are you talking about? Who are you anyway? I've never seen you before."

"Don't change the subject," Gray states. "Ever since I met you, I had some suspicions about you…" Gray stares deeply into Lucy's father's eyes. "Give the princess's memories back, you fake memory maker."

"Wait!" I exclaim. "You guys are being rude! This isn't a way to talk to someone's father!"

"Dad…" Lucy says. "Is… Is this true?"

Lucy's father doesn't reply. His short bangs make a shadow on his eyes. I can not read his expression at all. Is he angry? Sad? Happy? I have no idea.

"Dad?" Lucy says again, but her father doesn't reply.

Lucy's eyes begin to tear up. "Dad? Please… tell me this isn't true!"

Slowly, the shadow around her father's eyes clear up, showing his eyes full of laughter. His mouth twitches into a smirk. "So what if it is true?" he says. Then he begins to laugh in an extremely creepy way. "I'm surprised you figured me out, Gray Fullbuster and Sting Eucliffe," he says, looking at Gray and Sting. "Or should I say, the ice magician and the white dragon?"

"D-Dad?" Lucy says again. "W-What are you saying-"

"I'm not your father, Lucy Heartfilia," he replies with a chuckle of laughter. "Oh yes, I should call you by your real name now, huh? Since you found out, Princess Layla Eucliffe."

"No… No!" Lucy exclaims. She grabs onto her head and digs her nails into her white skin. "No! Please tell me this is all a lie!"

Her father smirks and takes off his white suit. "Unfortunate for you," he says, "this isn't a lie. This is reality, Princess Layla."

Slowly, black and gray light wrap her father in a cocoon, making us unable to see him. All we can hear is his loud laughing within the light.

"Protect Lucy!" I hear Gray yell.

Suddenly, I hear an explosion and feel a blast of heat. My ears begin to ring loudly. The pressure from the explosion is so strong, I am falling backwards, hot wind blowing against my face. Quickly, I hold Lucy close to my chest. I wrap one arm around her shoulders and the other on her head as we fall to the ground. I can hear Lucy's tears streaming down her face and her sniffles.

"It's going to be okay... Luce," I say before the explosion envelopes us. "I'll protect you..."

**-End of Chapter 10-**

_**~ Metallic Snow**_


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